


All aboard for Lorule

by princessofthieves



Category: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Post-Ending, REALLY tired for the first part of this story, Ravio is going to be really, Things Don't Go As Planned, Timeskip, lorule isn't healing, that's when they try to return to Hyrule, the first two chapters are pretty dark, warning: dark talks, warning: depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:33:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24917641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessofthieves/pseuds/princessofthieves
Summary: Early retirement had always been Ravio's biggest dream. When he returned from Hyrule with a bag full of Rupees he expected to be set for life, he thought having a triforce would finally solve his world's problems. Oh, how wrong he was.A little extraheresince someone mentioned trans vibes in Engineer. Also me digging the idea of 'gentle merchant + potentially vitriolic merchant' with them.I can tell you Engineer is ADHD, though, even if they don't have a proper diagnosis for him in Hyrule. (And yes, the ADHD? Self projection and I'm not even sorry.)
Relationships: (Be aware shipping will be really... low priority in this), (eventually), Implied (past) Ravio/Hilda, Link/Ravio (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 60
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Self indulgent crossover? Self indulgent crossover... The pg named "Nofiel" is just the Lorulean counterpart of Seres, just saying. A big TY to Yamitako for helping me out with the title.
> 
> I'm extremely insecure in writing Lorule because it's a dark place where people are hostile and things don't look bright at all, triforce or not. The cuccos are gone beside a few eggs we don't know if they'll hatch, we know people are losing their mind pretending to be monsters and bandits roam the land so... it can probably be an exhausting place to live in.

Celebrations were held the night the doors between Hyrule and Lorule closed for good: the once doomed land finally had a new Triforce and with that came a new hope for everyone. Yuga was no more, Ganon was no longer a danger for them and they finally had a chance to a better life.

That night Ravio heard people sing between the castle’s walls: no matter the state of the place, people brought good liquor from the village tavern and were having fun. 

Him, Hilda and Nofiel were the same. 

They raised their glasses, cheering, before drinking something that made the merchant’s eyes water. Ah, he wasn’t really one for alcohol, but the queen didn’t seem to mind and their friend, the new wielder of courage, only made comments about how great the taste was. 

“For Lorule!” They chanted together, between laughters. Sheerow was already asleep, using Ravio’s scarf as an improvised mattress, when they started to feel genuinely tipsy and kept laughing about the most absurd things.

“You guys are kidding me. My Hyrulean counterpart is what? A lovely, delicate maiden? Pfffft-”

Nofiel was a warrior, she had been a prisoner as well when Link arrived in their world and that had probably been for the better considering he knew Seres, her Hyrulean self. They were like day and night, even more than other citizens of the two lands, and she wasn’t exactly a close friend of the other two but… when the triforce shattered in three, Wisdom moved to Ravio, Courage to his queen and Power also found its host in the strongest fighter of the realm.

“You should have seen Link.” the merchant commented, mostly thinking back of the green fighter he met at the beginning of his quest. He proved himself a great warrior and an even greater friend but the mood didn’t call for melancholic talks, not when they just cut any tie with the other world “A total pushover. I literally took over his house, pushing his stuff around, and he said nothing. Nothing.”

Oh, he already missed him. Good friends were hard to come by, especially in that place. But that moment called for laughters and stupid jokes. He wasn’t going to mention how much he admired the boy in the green tunic, now how he envied his bravery- he was going to mock him as long as he could.

“Well, weren’t you wearing a bunny mask? Who’d say ‘no’ to a fierce looking bun? You had natural intimidation powers!”

He opened his mouth to reply to Nofiel, only to interrupt himself and gasp.

“Oh no…” he whispered, ears dropping down “I had the perfect chance to bring bunnies back to Lorule and I didn’t… do that!”

The warrior let out a similar, shocked gasp, while the queen was mostly silent as she stared at the content of her glass.

“They have bunnies in that place? How dangerous is Hyrule?”  
  
“Actually… bunnies are little balls of fluff. Very cute, very round, very… lovely.” Ravio sighed, regretting not picking some animals to help rebuilding farms in their land. Oh, well, someone had to have some cuccos left… right? Or some other creatures that could be raised in farms for meat and such…

“I don’t believe you. Bunnies aren’t little or lovely. Bunnies are stronger than Lynels-” the warrior flexed “Braver than our queen and faster than a legendary postman!”

The merchant chuckled, head hitting the pillow behind him. It was a shame they had no access to the other world: it had so many things they could use. Why didn’t he think about purchasing actual goods, instead of only trading artifacts and such? 

“I just realized I would be the richest person in Lorule if I had the brain to get myself some of that-”  
  
“Ravio… are you that drunk you’re forgetting how to talk?”

He ignored Nofiel, tapping his fingers against his knee.

“Rice, corn, vegetables, I should have brought some. Can you imagine it? So much money pouring in just because I got in the right place at the right moment…” A Long pause followed, Hilda still seemed absent but the other two barely cared as the songs finally started to fade in the distance “If… if I had a way to go back to Hyrule? I’d at least buy a sheep.” Ravio finally concluded, ungracefully chugging down the remaining wine in his glass.

“Well, we will get food, don’t worry too much your little brain about that…”

Ravio almost wanted to remind her Wisdom picked him of all people, it certainly meant he had a really big brain, right? Probably. His head felt heavy and he didn’t want to talk a lot longer.

“To a brighter Lorule…” Hilda finally said, raising her glass. The other two bearer imitated her, even if their wine was long gone “From tomorrow we will work hard, we will recover and I swear to you and our friends on the other side I will not rest until we can call Lorule a glorious place.”

They all cheered together, the bearer of Power laughing under her breath.

“You sound so serious… come on, girl. It’s a wonderful night. Oh, but if we’re taking oaths…” Nofiel took a deep breath “I shall not wash my underwear until this land is safe and sound!”

Ravio snickered, eyelids feeling heavy. Hilda didn’t even crack a smile. She was a sad drunk, wasn’t she? Wait, did she even touch her wine? Ah, he didn’t care…

“You’re so gross, geez-” he replied to the warrior instead “I… huh… I refuse to be so gross. I… I shall not cut my hair until this land is yadda yadda, you know the story.”

“How is that a challenge? You barely take care of your hair anyway! Lazy!”

The two laughed as sleep finally started to claim them. Eh… she was right, he usually let his hair grow for a while and then cut them whenever they started to get too annoying, mostly when drying them after a bath took longer than he liked. To be honest, he was already considering to give himself a big cut but… hey, he could bear keeping his hair like that for a bit longer, right?

\- - -

It took Ravio almost two hours to finish braiding his own hair. While Nofiel broke her childish oath the first time she changed her clothes, Ravio and Hilda kept their words: The queen worked tirelessly to restore Lorule, the merchant stood by her side with hair growing a bit longer with every passing month.

What started almost like a joke, turned into a grim reminder for him when, ten years later, his hair still had to get a single cut. 

Lorule was doomed and while no one wanted to admit it, everyone was perfectly aware of how things were collapsing around them. Ravio closed his eyes, sighing and adjusting the simple purple robe he used and wrapping the long braid around his neck not to have it drag around. 

With no one buying his wares and more important things to do, the merchant soon took the role of Royal Advisor for the Queen, but… wearing fancy tunics with gold embroidery, wearing jewels, it felt wrong when most Lorulean were starving to death. They had no cattle, no poultry, and the terrain was ill suited for cultivation, no matter how hard they kept trying. Farms were producing, but just… not enough. The greenish water, so different from the fresh rivers he saw in Hyrule, was still carrying traces of the corruption that filled the land, the land itself wasn’t as productive as it could be- and everyone was hungry.

Supplies sustained them for almost a year, but now food had to be rationed and.... honestly? Ravio was start to lose hope. He reached for his bag, opening his agenda and looking at his meetings for the day. He had to meet with the Milk Bar owner, apparently his last bull passed away and without him no cow would produce anything… and somehow the man expected the Advisor to fix the issue for him. He understood how important it was having at least one shop producing edible goods but… how was he even supposed to find a bull?

Meeting with the guards to deal with the new spike in banditry, meeting with the leader of the monsterkins and try to convince them that no, guess what, wearing masks and acting like monsters wasn’t going to magically grant them happiness. A groan escaped his lips as he scratched his head, that kind of tasks never seemed to bring anything valuable to the table and the problems kept presenting themselves: too many monsters, too many bandits, not enough resources… Lorule was a giant headache.

But. despite the bleak situation, he still had his reasons to fight and cling to that little bit of hope he had left. And one of them was probably waiting for him outside, ready to ambush the advisor as soon as he left his room.

“ _Maybe by tomorrow, the sun is gonna glow_ …” he hummed adjusting his belt and grabbing his leather shoulder bag. It had been way too long since he had been in a real singing mood, yet the man forced himself to repeat the little jingle he always sang in Link’s house before the beginning of every work day “ _And maybe by tomorrow, not gonna stung my toe_ …” Ravio reached for some papers and carefully placed them inside a small binder “ _Or maybe by tomorrow_ -” he raised his voice, reaching for the single slice of bread that remained from his breakfast and heading for the door “ _The snow is gonna blow_.”

He kept humming after placing the food between his lips, most of the slice precariously hanging out of it. Three… two… one… He braced himself as soon as he saw movements behind him, two seconds later something heavy landed against his shoulders and snatched the snack from him.

A little yelp escaped his lips, the worst part was always when his assailant ended up pulling his long hair during the short descent toward the ground, but… he didn’t want to get in the way of a child who was honing skills that were probably going to be useful for him to survive if the situation kept getting worse. Speaking of which…

“As rough as ever, prince Link.” Ravio commented with the flattest tone possible, pretending to be annoyed like every single morning. 

“Grumpy as ever, uncle Ravi. Did someone steal your purse?”

The advisor rolled his eyes, hiding a little smile as he stepped forward once more. 

“Well, someone did steal my breakfast…”

“Food goes to the strongest warrior!” the little kid, seven years old by now, jumped in front of him making a great show as he ate his stolen goods “And I am stronger than you!”

Ravio shook his head, chuckling and patting the kid’s head and proceeding down the main corridor side by side with him. To be honest, he was starting to worry whenever he spent time around the kid, the more Link grew the more his lineage was more than evident, he got his mother’s eyes but everything else… the advisor couldn’t help but see himself in him. 

Him and Hilda never made their fling official and considering they weren’t exclusive for each other… there wasn’t any real way to know the kid’s father for the longest time. Now? Now he dreaded the moment some servant or soldier would bring up to the prince how him and the Royal advisor were alike. It wasn’t going to cause a lot of problems, Lorule’s situation was too dire to worry about who the unmarried queen slept with, but… he wasn’t eager to have that kind of talk with the little one.

“Come on, Ravi, you’re slow.”

Ravio clicked his tongue before, slowing down on purpose. His smile disappeared when he noticed the kid actually waited for him instead of dashing forward and mocking him as he ran to his mom. That only happened when Hilda was distressed and Link wanted someone to take care of his mom.

“My prince…” he stopped once more, when Link did the same that was the confirmation he needed “Is there any problem?”

The kid adjusted his tunic before closing the distance between them, asking Ravio to lean down as he whispered.

“Mom got a letter and she doesn’t seem too happy.”

He nodded in the kid’s direction, then started walking in front of him, now directed toward Hilda’s rooms instead of the throne room: if she was worried about something, she was likely to still be there, probably trying to fix whatever problem just decided to add itself at the pile.

“Link?”  
  
“Mh?”  
  
“Mom and Uncle will have a talk, you…” he knelled down, producing a couple of bunny plushies from his bag. Ravio made them out of his old rupee bag and a few other items and- hey, all kids loved brave and strong bunnies, right? “please, go play outside, your majesty.”

With the kid running away, he finally knocked at the door. He could have pushed the whole thing open without problems, as their land even the castle was falling apart and he could count the locks still working or the rooms that were properly recovered over time, but… he did respect Hilda’s privacy. Especially since they stopped being more than a Queen and her servant.

“My lady?” He called, waiting for her response. When a loud grunt came he dared to step in.

She was still in her long nightgown, yet the desk and the bed were covered in documents. It was clear that whatever she received was bad news and even if he wanted to run away… where was he even supposed to go? Back to Hyrule? Impossible without the bracelet anyway.

“...My lady?” Ravio tried again when he realized she wasn’t really paying him any attention. She immediately spun in his direction letting out another frustrated groan. He sighed. “Hilda?”

“What? I don’t have time to talk! The orchard? It’s gone. Gone! All plants wilted!” 

He bit his lips. So much work, completely wasted. Again. That was terrible news.

“And that’s not even the worst part of this morning. Look!”

Ravio hesitantly approached the desk to find two letters on it: one was from Nofiel, she was informing them that any attempt to cut through the northern forest had been unsuccessful. Whatever was lying north of Lorule was still out of their reach. The other was from their southern patrols, apparently monsters started to rise from the lake once more and most of the troops in the south had been lost.

“What are we supposed to do, Ravio? The harder we try, the more everything falls apart! Why are we still- why isn’t this working?”

He stepped back when the woman placed her hand under his nose. The Triforce had not been the boon they all hoped, while monsters didn’t rise as often the land had already been damaged too much and nothing seemed to magically fix it. While he did suspect that had something to do with the fact that Hyrule’s Triforce was Goddesses made while theirs was generated after a wish and weaker… at this point it didn’t matter so much.

“We…” He forced a smile on his lips, he wasn’t brave or strong but he at least knew how to pretend after so long “We still got a whole harvest from those plants so I’m certain we’re on the right path, we just have to figure out if there was a relevant change in temperature or weather before this and plan ahead for the next one and-”

“What is the point?” Hilda rarely raised her voice, but whenever she did Ravio felt small and insignificant “Everything we try is a failure! What… what am I supposed to do? What can we do at this point?”

Nothing, that was what he wanted to reply. They were slowly going to starve to death, if not during their generation probably soon after, but-

“We have nothing, what else can we lose?” He checked behind himself to make sure no one else was around and stepped forward, opening his arms and silently offering her a hug. It didn’t always work but it occasionally helped her calm down. Hilda didn’t take the offer, instead she stared down at Ravio’s hand for a long moment.

“I’m calling Nofiel back.”

The man tilted his head in confusion, the warrior had been exploring for years now, only returning now and then to bring back treasures and whatever she considered useful for the land. 

“May I ask why?”

“I don’t know what to do anymore, Ravio. So if this fucking triangle we have-” She grabbed his hand with her “-can really grant wishes then we will try to get it to answer our plea.”  
  
“Hilda… it never worked…”

“I know but we don’t have any other hope. We need to go to Hyrule or we need this land to be purified… and if in ten years we went nowhere with our efforts and attempts… may the Triforce help us?”

He sighed, well aware that like all other times this was going to end with a complete failure. 

“I guess I could use a proper talk with Nofiel.” he admitted in the end, that woman was always traveling in dangerous areas for the sake of Lorule and he wanted a proper update about their situation on the borders, not just receive passing words “So… if that’s what you desire, let’s try to activate the Triforce once more.”

She nodded before dismissing him with a single gesture of her hand, not a shadow of a smile gracing her face. Ravio waited for a moment but when she moved back to her desk and started writing a letter, probably to their common friend, he knew their conversation was over. Oh, how he missed the times they could truly called each other friends.

When he left to head to the village, he had a long day ahead, he didn’t notice the prince curling behind the door, nor he could see the light shining in his eyes. The Triforce, huh? Whatever that wish-granting magic was… he was going to make it work for his mom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka: prologue part two. Things will keep escalating and being depressing in this one, just saying.

Traveling out of the castle always managed to be stressful for Ravio: at first he only worried about monsters, but after a while he had to start to deal with unhappy citizens and… things only got worse from there.

It reached the point where he only moved by carriage and with proper escort, and even with that he never felt safe. It wasn’t rare to stop for hours as his soldiers had to clear the way from bandits or hostile creatures, after that he had to deal with people upset for various reasons, him being late included, and by the end of the day he generally returned with major headaches. 

Nofiel was distant, many people were resentful against the Crown for causing so many problems with the destruction of the triforce and Hilda basically lived barricaded in the castle without ever leaving it. He was the face of the royal family, despite being officially just an advisor, and it was exhausting. 

The Monsterkins had been incredibly active, lately, and it was hard to stop them from ruining the little bit of order Lorulean had.

“We don’t have enough problems with monsters ravaging our fields, we also need people with monster masks doing the same…” he complained to the little painting of Sheerow he kept in his room. Oh, how he missed having some constant company, that little bird had been at his side until the end “And they say it’s only natural for us to embrace our inner selves. They can’t even see where they’re going at times but… you know, wear a mask and you’ll find happiness, right?”

He sighed, dumping his leather shoulder bag to the floor and taking his shoes off while returning to his quarters. He lived in the tower right next to the Queen’s chambers and Ravio had to admit it, after a long day he dreaded climbing all the stairs back to his place. Yes, him and Hilda were safer than many other people but that came with a price. 

“Sorry, it’s been a long day.” he commented to the picture before sitting down on his bed and letting out a long sigh. He still had to report to the Queen but… he wasn’t in the mood of telling her (again) that no matter how much they tried: they weren’t building a dialogue anywhere. The only thing Ravio obtained was almost getting slapped by the Milk Bar Owner when he tried to explain to him that no, there were no more bulls in Lorule. Apparently reminding him that he should have spared some of the veals, instead of using them for meat, if finding a male was so hard… yeah, that had been a mistake.

At least he had guards protecting him, right? It definitely took away a lot from his human interactions but he wasn’t brave enough to challenge angry citizens on their own. Or bandits. Or Moblins. Or… anything, really. It was already stressful and tiring enough dealing with the Kingdom’s problems and being the first line in handling the population.

The man unbuckled his belt, throwing it to the floor, and adjusted himself on the bed, laying down and allowing his muscles to relax. He just needed to rest for a moment and-

“Uncle Ravi?”

The moment the floor cracked and the door moved? He reached for the dagger under his pillow. The second he heard the kid’s voice? He relaxed and forced himself to smile while sitting up once more.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“Mom is busy and I’m bored. Can I stay with you for a while?”

Ravio wanted to say no, he was too tired, but if the kid wanted company he couldn’t say no. The little prince had no friends, nor contacts beside the few in the castle that were allowed in the upper chambers and his teachers. He leaned forward, placing his elbows against his knees in support.

“Of course. Should I get my chessboard?” 

“Nuh-huh…” He mused happily, leaving his shoes outside as well (Good kid, he knew Ravio didn’t like to bring too much dirt inside), and rushing inside to throw himself on the bed “I want story time!”

“Story time? That’s unusual, my prince. But I will be glad to entertain you. Should we go revisit the Holy Bunny story? It’s been a while since we talked about the Pink Bun of Doom.”

That had always been one of Ravio’s favorites, he always hoped to have his personal bunny Champion come and save him when he was a child and now, well… he just wanted Link to come back and fix the problems for him once more. A childish dream, sure, but he had seen miracles happen before.

“Nuh-huh.” The kid crawled over the mattress and threw himself in the most comfortable position, claiming the only pillow the man had. Ravio turned as well, leaning his back against the stone wall and looking down at his protege “I want to hear about Hyrule.”

Ravio’s body tensed up, they rarely spoke of that land nowadays and it was never in the middle of a pleasant conversation. Not to mention only so many people even knew about a land that was better in every single way than Lorule, there was no need to have citizens with low morale even resenting a land they had no way to reach.

“May I ask… how you heard that name?”

“Mommy mentioned it in her sleep.”   
  
Ravio squinted in the kid’s direction, Link’s ears always twitched whenever he lied. Okay, it was worth keeping an eye on the situation, knowing how Hilda felt trapped in the palace and her frustration… well, if he vented out to an old painting, maybe she did the same? He crossed his legs, allowing himself to take a more relaxed position and preparing for the talk.

“Okay… what would you like to know about Hyrule?”

“Everything!”

“That’s incredibly generic, my prince. Could I request a starting point?”

Link hummed, little feet kicking in the air for a moment before settling down against the mattress once more.    
  
“Well… what  _ is  _ Hyrule?”

“A fantastic land with no problems, my liege. Nothing more than a fantasy where food is abundant, people are friendly and happy and… everyone loves the royal family.” He could feel his kid’s eyes studying him but he gave no indication of how he felt about the place “You’ve been named after the legendary hero of that land. Link the Brave. It’s one of those tales like the Pink Bun: there’s a place in danger and the Hero comes to save the day.”   
  
“Would Link save Lorule if he could come here?”   
  
“Probably, yes. He’s a hero brave and strong enough to defeat all evil, no matter if the odds are against him.”   
  
“I see… I want to be like him, someday.”

Ravio took a deep breath and offered Link a melancholic smile. 

“That would make us very proud, your majesty… not that we aren’t already proud of your progress. I heard from the Teacher you’re incredibly talented in math.”   
  
“I know!” The little one beamed with pride “It’s just so easy, I’m the best one of my class!”

The ex merchant chuckled, avoiding any comment about the fact that Link was the only student in his ‘class’. Now, if he could only take the topic on something easier than Hyrule it would have been perfect.

“That’s wonderful! Anything new you learnt recently you’d like to show me?”   
  
“Maybe but- math can wait. It’s fun and all but I want to hear about Link! I mean, I have his name! He must be great!” the little prince turned around on the bed, crawling a bit more and placing his head on Ravio’s legs. The ex merchant’s heart melted a little. As much as he wanted to keep distance, that was still his kid and a child he had seen grow up for seven years, he couldn’t resist when Link used his puppy eyes.

He took a deep breath, his mind going back to the days he spent in Hyrule with the company of one of the best friends he ever had. It was fun renting Link stuff, it was fun sending Sheerow to check on him whenever the situation got too dire (but he never admitted that, it was just to recover his items, of course), to all the wonderful foods he tasted while there. Oh, he remembered Link: he was so kind, so full of life, so gentle, yet he could be unstoppable if he had to hold up a sword to defend those he loved.

“He was…” Incredible. Ravio admired him, he wanted to be more like that man, but he knew bravery wasn’t his biggest strength. Was Link going to know how to fix Lorule’s problems? He wanted to say yes, even if that answer only made him feel bad for the complete lack of success the Lorulean trio experienced. “Tales says he was the greatest hero of all times.”   
  
“Even better than bun bun?”

“Even better than bun bun…”

“Then why… you never told me about him.”

“Because bun bun is a tale of bravery, Hyrule and Link are… something we can’t aspire to have. Or be.”

“You always say it’s good to have huge goals in life.”

“I do but one has to know the limits. Our land isn’t kind as the one of legends, your majesty: there is no benevolent entity above us sending gifts to our people, we are not going to be blessed with magical swords or enhanced bows that will keep the enemy at bay.”

And most of Ravio’s tools were now in Hyrule with their new owner. He never regretted selling anything more than he did now: traveling and accessing new places was a nightmare for the bearer of Power and she could have used some of his items.

“Well, we just have to make them ourselves.”

“It’s not that easy, my prince.”

“I still want to hear more about Hyrule and Link. Come on, uncle Ravi, tell me a story!”

The ex merchant bit his lips, looking down at the kid and sighing. Hilda could wait, she probably knew there was nothing new to report anyway, and if he was careful enough… perhaps he could take himself out of the story and just tell his kid about Link’s tale.

“Well, I cannot say no to my future King, can I? Allow me to introduce you to the Legend of Link…”

\- - -

The rest of the week had been uneventful, at least for Ravio’s standards. For every problem solved, three more appeared, but that was the norm. The most difficult part was fending off a very curious prince who kept asking questions about his namesake and the magical land he lived in. Hilda questioned her advisor about it, yet he could only repeat the price’s lie.

It wasn’t like any bad thing was coming from his newfound passion and, hey, Ravio had to admit it was pleasant sitting on the bed with the kid’s head on his lap as he invented tale after tale. He spoke of underground cities where Lorulean were once confined, he talked about a land of blinding light where an exotic princess lived… it was weird, those lies almost came natural to him, like he had been there.

It was no surprise that Link was absolutely in love with the Link of Hyrule: the kid bothered his mother enough to convince her to give him a wooden sword, a wooden pot lid also disappeared from the kitchen and Ravio had a suspect on who now owned it. It was refreshing to see so much enthusiasm in someone.

Not many kids were as lucky as Link, whenever he visited settlements all he saw were children too thin to be healthy and general misery, one of his little consolations was knowing the prince was still fine. Speaking of people being too thin....

“What wouldn’t I do for a fresh apple, my friend.”

He only glanced in Sheerow’s painting before looking at his bony body in front of the mirror. His robes hid it well enough but allowing Link to steal food from him was starting to show its consequences in the long run.

“We really have to find an alternative source of food, Sheerow, or we’re all going to die.”

It wasn’t just farmers, even hunters returned from long trips with no game and monster meat was highly toxic to Loruleans… they really had to find something. But for now… it was the start of a new day. 

Ravio dressed himself, adjusted his braid (he only made it once a week, it was an elaborate hairstyle and he could only get up early so many times just to take care of that) and threw it once around his neck before starting to hum the usual song after grabbing the usual slice of bread he left from his breakfast. 

“ _ Or maybe by tomorrow _ -” He kept singing, happily, like he had no worry in the world “ _ The snow is gonna blow _ .” The usual attack followed and the food was quickly snatched away. A smile appeared on his face for a moment, then he straightened his back and started his usual, fake reprimand. The kid only seemed more than satisfied with himself, laughed at Ravio’s words and reached for the Advisor’s hand as they walked toward the rest of the castle.

Things weren’t completely bad, not when he could at least keep that little ray of sunshine at his side.

\- - -

“You called for me, Lady Hilda?”

While he had no issues in visiting the queen’s chambers, he didn’t really like being called there: it usually meant the two were going to have an unpleasant conversation, especially when everyone else was instructed to wait outside. Ravio stepped in, closing the large door behind him and waited for her to speak. 

“You need to leave my son alone.”

He blinked, for a moment wondering if he heard that right. Did she… 

“Excuse me?”   
  
“You heard me. You will take your distance from Link and this is an order.”   
  
Ravio bit his lips, trying to process what she just told him.

“With all the respect, my lady, I’m not the one chasing the kid around. He’s bored because he has no friends between the palace walls and I’m free entertainment, I’m not trying to steal him from you.”   
  
“You’re filling his head with all those talks about Hyrule!” she lashed against him, almost hissing the words out.

“Well…” he raised his chin “He did hear that name from you, Hilda. And you’re the one who picked his name. He’s just a kid, it’s a phase, I was the same when my mother told me about the Pink Bun of Doom-”   
  
“People saw you two hold hands!” she almost spat in his direction, stepping close enough to push a finger against his chest “People are talking, Ravio!”

“We know that’s not the problem. I doubt anyone with eyes didn’t notice the similarities between us and you never cared about what others say so… what is the real problem?”

He felt strangely defensive: he was working his ass off by the castle and the outside areas, he barely had any positive interaction with anyone, and that kid was one of the few good things of his life. Even forgetting for a moment that he was probably _his_ kid it was one of the good things worth fighting for.

“You and your stories are a problem.”   
  
“We’re back to Hyrule…”   
  
“Not only Hyrule. The Hero, the Holy rabbit, everything- we can’t afford the luxury of fairy tales. He’s trying all those new stunts, he wants to go outside, we both know he will get killed if he manages to sneak out!”

“I see…” So Hilda was both worried for him and venting out her frustration, huh? He wanted someone to yell at as well, just because it seemed a great way to let feelings out “No more stories. I can go back to chat about his studies and-”   
  
“No. No no no. You aren’t going to spend time with him anymore and I will not change my mind. Link will be informed as well, it’s time he grows up and abandons those stupid fantasies of his.”   
  
Ravio wanted to point out the kid was only seven, she was fifteen when she had to step in and embrace her responsibilities, yet he kept his mouth closed. The man knew what was happening: Hilda reached a breaking point, she was going to be incredibly upset for a couple of days and things were probably going to go back to normality. He could endure not seeing the kid for a while, if anything he was going to get full meals for a little and get proper rest, it was just a matter of being patient.

Honestly? He would have been even worse than his old friend if he was the one trapped between three rooms. Courage craved freedom, Courage craved adventure, yet it was now bound to a woman who lived behind heavily guarded rooms and lost contact with the world outside years ago.

He swallowed and bowed his head in her direction, the last thing anyone needed was to upset the Queen even more.

“As you wish, my lady."

\- - -

Things didn’t improve, not this time. 

Ravio’s personal time had been awfully silent in the past two weeks and even if the kid showed the desire to approach him once more… nothing changed. Hilda had never been a bad mother, nor a bad friend, but this was unusually bad even for her standards.

The advisor, who had very little to say since she ended up refusing any meeting with him as well, only kept working and soldiered on. 

He celebrated with Sheerow’s painting and a glass of apple cider (Well, more like apple vinegar at this point.) when one lady he had never seen before approached to let him know she saved some of the eggs when the cuccoo shelter collapsed and now she had enough animals to share them with others (She still didn’t want to say where she lived, probably hidden in the forest, but Ravio was too happy to ask for more than she was willing to give.) and wanted to give five animals to the village. He cried alone, holding his pillow, when he had been informed that half of their corn plantations were now covered in a mold that was killing them.

Good or bad, at least someone had to keep going. 

After another long trip he went straight for his room, ignoring the Queen’s chambers. Why bother when she wasn’t going to receive him anyway and when he had no good things to share anyway?

Ravio opened the door to his room, went directly to his bed without even taking his shoes or his bag off, and let himself fall down on the mattress. He could handle a lot of things, sometimes he felt like Wisdom was reassuring him when things went South but it was probably part of his imagination, but the past few days had been exhausting in his solitude. He never realized how much he craved that little bit of interaction the kid brought in, or the few friendly words he managed to exchange with Hilda between formal duties.

“I wish I had a magic wand to fix all our problems…” he whispered, not even directly addressing Sheerow’s portrait anymore. 

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

\- - -

Three loud knocks on the door woke him up.

Ravio’s room was shrouded by darkness and he could barely see the contour of his windows with the curtains covering them, but his hand was quick at finding its way to his weapon and in a couple of seconds he was on his feet.

What time was it? Was it morning already? Was he late for work?

“Uncle Ravi?”

Any grogginess or confusion disappeared as soon as he heard Link’s voice. The kid sounded scared and that rang an immediate alarm bell in his head. Ravio ran to the door, almost tripping in the oversized and old rug that covered the floor, and opened it just to find the child in his nightgown barely holding back tears.

“What happened?”

“Aunt is back and she is fighting with mom, they’re both really angry.”

He immediately thanked his luck for not taking anything off before collapsing in the bed. He slid his knife in a special buckle of his belt, usually used to hold small bags, and grabbed the kid’s hand before running toward the Queen’s chambers. Oh, dear, he could hear their shouts from outside and he wasn’t the only one alarmed by the situation: many guards gathered in front of the door and were clearly waiting for a signal from their queen to step in.

He scoffed, forcing his way between them and opening the door, sliding in on his own before closing it behind his back, careful not to pinch little Link in the middle as the kid hurried after him.

Nofiel and Hilda were yelling at each other and Ravio immediately noticed how the warrior’s hand was dangerously holding her sword’s hilt. 

“What- what is wrong here?”

The two women ignored him completely and he immediately stepped forward, slipping between them and using his whole body to place some distance between the two. He felt incredibly small in front of the mountain of muscles that was Power’s wielder but at the same time… they weren’t going to attack each other if that meant putting another person in danger, right?

“What is wrong?”   
  
“This bitch thinks she can tell me what to do when our people are out there, starving, and she lives here cuddled inside the castle. Do you know what’s like living out there? When the sun rises, burning winds take life from the lands near the desert, sands eating more and more of our green terrains. On the other side the swamp is draining all life from it, it’s turning into a putrid mess, yet your only worry is staying safe-”   
  
Hilda raised her arm, trying to push Ravio out of her way to reach for Nofiel. The man stood between them.

“Do you think it’s easy for me to sit here and see my people suffer? I never asked for this burde-”   
  
“Neither have we! But it’s your family that destroyed the original Triforce and now we’re all paying the consequences!”

Ravio’s jaw dropped. While he knew many people were resentful against the royal family for that very reason, at the same time he never heard the warrior voice that kind of opinion. She had always been supportive in the few letters they managed to exchange during the first years as new bearers, what happened out there?

“And when the moon rises, icy winds batter our lands and kill anything they touch. The humidity in the forest is so strong, plants die under a layer of mold. Everywhere in Lorule… everywhere in Lorule the winds and waters carry death and neither of you is out there to see it. Do you have any idea what life is like outside the castle?”

The queen’s hands were shaking.

“Maybe I would leave this fucking prison if people weren’t so determined to kill me, Nofiel! Do you think I enjoy living like this? I look at the horizon and I would give anything to be out there, to seek answers and live but no, I’m stuck between those walls and not by choice.”   
  
“What a great bearer of Courage someone who doesn’t even dare to leave their only safe shell. Just admit it: it’s convenient for you to stay here. You’ll be one of the last ones to die, probably, and that’s only because you have some kind of status protecting you.”   
  
Nofiel spat in Hilda’s direction, droplets hitting Ravio as well.

“My friends, this is getting out of hand, there’s no need to fight between us-” The moment the warrior decided she didn’t want him between them, a single push with her arms was enough to make him fall to the ground. Link was quick to his side, lips trembling and eyes filled with tears the kid was still trying to fight. “It’ll be okay, my prince.” he only whispered in his direction before getting back up to his feet. 

“She is not my friend, she has not been for a long time. She refused to send supplies to my village when I begged her to but I see she’s still well fed and raising her kid just fine- it’s good to know her family is more important than mine.”   
  
Ravio gasped, he never… even heard of that request. When did that happen? They had no supplies or food to send away in any case but he could see how things could appear to the warrior’s eyes. Did she lose her family? Her sister and her little niece?

“We have no supplies, Nofiel, your village was supposed to be self sufficient, I couldn’t predict such a long drought.”

“What did you expect from a desert area?” The warrior’s voice boomed in the room “That we would just magically find new springs?”

“I wasn’t expecting you to lose all your camels to a sudden sickness, that for sure! If you can’t take care of yourselves, what am I supposed to do when there isn’t enough anyway? Take from people here and bring them to yours?”   
  
“Yours… We were also  _ your  _ people, Hilda! And you abandoned us! And now you want me to magically chase dreams and fantasies like that again? We fell to the illusion once, you are an embarrassment to the crown if you seriously still believe in that kind of fairy tales.”

What. The. Fuck. He had not been informed of any of that, he stopped having anything more than formal communications with Nofiel a long while ago but it was hard to believe that even happened. Wait… was he even receiving letters from her? Thinking about it, the quality of paper and writing style suddenly changed one day, he paid no attention since she clearly knew details that weren’t shared with others and the handwriting was the same but… no time to think about that.

“Ladies, please, calm down and let’s talk like civil-”   
  
“Shut up, Ravio!” For once they spoke in unison, yelling in the man’s face. He gulped down and took a few steps behind, only to stop when he felt the kid’s body behind his left. Okay, that was... not good and he was afraid but at the same time the kid was probably more scared than he was. He took a deep breath before stepping forward once more, forcing himself between the women.

“I will not shut up! I don’t know what happened between you two but I will not let you hurt the queen, nor the queen hurt you. We’re going to sit and discuss this with no weapons and-”

“You really think we can still talk, Ravio? I only came to tell her to go fuck herself, she and her dreams of a better world. If she wants a better world then she should go outside and try to work for her own food like everyone else.”   
  
“I can’t leave my people without a leader, if it was just for me I would be with you on the borders. But unlike you I still have responsibilities toward my citizens and I have a child-”   
  
“What makes your own kid more important than the others?” A punch threw on the floor both Hilda and Ravio, the man’s mind reminded him for a moment that this was exactly why he didn’t like to be too close to people anymore -too much danger-. As soon as he reopened his eyes, Ravio saw Nofiel towering over Link and reaching for the kid’s collar, lifting him from the ground.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” was the queen’s warning.

“Or what?”   
  
The man was still getting back up on his feet when he saw Nofiel draw her sword in the Queen’s direction and Hilda do the same after reaching for a rapier under her bed. While he had a dagger, he didn’t move a muscle toward it, instead stepping once more between the two with his heart drumming in his ears and hands up, showing he meant no harm.

A voice in Ravio’s head whispered to him that _ it was okay _ ,  _ Courage and Power were made to fight each other _ . He cursed against his way too vivid imagination and still attempted a slightly more diplomatic approach as the two glared at each other. 

“No one has to get hurt,  _ please _ .” he pleaded, trying to hide how his knees were shaking in fear “This world is already plagues with enough death and misery without adding more.”   


His prince -his son- was crying while being held by a strong, dangerous warrior who was losing control and the queen was equally unstable. He needed to keep control.

“I can’t see how one less mouth to feed will hurt us, bunny boy.”

“Killing people is never a solution! Please, Nofiel, put him down. Or take me.” he didn’t even know how those words found their way out of his mouth, he immediately regretted them -just to slap himself because no, that was Link, he could take one for Link. “Take me, Nofiel, I eat more than him anyway.”

“Ravio, I’m not giving you permission to-”   
  
“I’m not asking for your permission, Hilda!”

He raised his arms once more after dropping his dagger to the floor, the two women weren’t moving a single muscle and it was a relief when Nofiel allowed him to step closer, her blade still pointed in the queen’s direction, and reach forward to hold one of Link’s hands. He knew the warrior wasn’t a bad person, he knew she wasn’t probably eager to hurt a defenseless kid despite her rage, but he was terrified by her at the moment.

“Uncle Ravi-”   
  
“I’m here, my prince.”   
  
He heard her growl, yet he didn’t look in her direction, only wiping tears from the kid’s face.

“You haven’t told him yet, huh?”   
  
“There’s nothing to tell him.” he replied. Okay, as long as the queen kept her cool, perhaps he was going to be able to de escalate the situation “But that doesn’t matter, not now. Nofiel, I don’t honestly know what happened but… please, let’s talk this out.”   
  
“The time for talking is over, Ravio…” 

For a moment he could feel her pain, her exhaustion, he could see himself in the warrior even if he never faced the most extreme challenges of living at the borders. She was sad, tired, frustrated, he recognized that.

“Nofiel, we both know that this won’t solve anything. Please, let the kid go and please, let’s fix this as peacefully as possible. We may have problems but we aren’t each other’s enemy, we’re all fighting a common battle here.”

She hesitated, that was the little glimpse of hope Ravio needed. They still had a chance to solve everything without weapons and without a fight. That was good.

“Uncle Ravi-” the kid’s hiccup got his attention “I just… I don’t like this.”   
  
“No one does, my liege, but we’ll solve this. Please be brave.”   
  
“Like Link?”   
  
“Like the hero, yes.” he tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but his eyes were both on Nofiel for now.

“Uncle Ravi… can we go to this new land of Hyrule so everyone stops being angry?”   
  
“If it exists we will, my prince.”   


He suddenly heard steps outside, a group of heavily armored people were approaching. Fast. Ravio tensed up. Oh, no...

“Would Link help us?”

“I’m sure he’d help us, your highness.”   
  
“Then I want to meet him.”   
  
“If he exists I’m sure we will find him.”   
  
Nofiel was once again ready to attack, the queen was no different and Ravio was in pure panic mode. Soldiers were coming, they were coming, and they didn’t know the best thing was waiting outside like the other guards. Fuck. Fuck!

As soon as the door slammed open once more events turned south real quick. Guards pointed their spears in Nofiel’s direction, she brought her sword near the kid’s neck, barely taking account of Ravio’s presence and almost cutting his head off during the movement, Hilda jumped forward with her rapier and Link let out a terrified scream.

Then came the light. A flood of pure, blinding radiance that engulfed everything.

For a moment all the man could see or feel was Link’s hand holding his, then something changed. A blue, splendid sky opened above them, it was just him and his kid floating mid air under the brighter sun Ravio had seen in a very long time. Was that… Hyrule? He held his breath for a moment as white birds passed not to far from them, but he didn’t manage to look around to see if he recognized the land.

The energy supporting the two disappeared in the blink of an eye and he barely managed to wrap his arms around Link before they started their descent. His mind didn’t even register an unknown, loud sound not too far from them, his attention only went to what was below them.

Water. More water than he had ever seen in his life. And neither him or Link knew how to swim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make it clear: Hilda is NOT a bad person in this fic. She made mistakes, they accumulated and by the end she didn't know how to step out of them and her stress levels are definitely too high. Same with Nofiel. I don't like to go "this character is evil" for plot convenience, they're just really tired, really hurt and making poor decisions because they're driven by desperation.
> 
> If they listened to Ravio and had a good talk, this could have been avoided, probably.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover the magic of Sinks. Fair warning, it's a slower chapter.

When he regained his senses, Ravio immediately realized he was not on solid ground, the terrain was shaking under his body but it didn’t feel like an earthquake, it was almost… rhythmical. He stirred, trying to process his surroundings and remember how he arrived there. 

Ravio didn’t exactly remember what happened once him and the kid hit the water’s surface: there was panic, they were both barely able to keep their head out of the water and he was completely sure they were going to die. He heard someone shout something, a rope of sort wrap around his wrist and then nothing else.

LINK! He immediately sat up, head spinning for a moment, and tried to scan the room he was in. Huh... that was… special? From a first glance it reminded him one of those carriages where circus performers traveled, he saw one when he was a kid, but there was a lot more metal all around and-

“What?”

He crawled out of the Murphy bed where he had been allowed to rest. He could see outside from the window and the landscape in the distance was moving. The ex merchant had been in carriages before, especially in the most recent years when traveling in one meant safety, but he had never heard of horses so fast.

“Uncle Ravi!”

Every question was thrown off the window as soon as he heard the little voice. He turned around to find his kid on the floor: someone gave him clothes, even if they were a bit too large and clearly used, and left him in the room with paper and crayons. He kicked everything out of his way as he kneeled on the wooden parquet and threw his arms around him.

“You’re… I’m so glad you’re alive, my liege.”

Ravio almost felt like crying as he held the little prince, but he couldn’t let his emotional side have the better of him. Not right now. He needed to check the kid’s conditions and-

“Uncle Ravi! You were right!”

He felt little hands pushing him away and he found himself in front of his child’s crimson eyes. There was such a light in them, his whole expression was full of mirth, he had not seen the prince beam like that in such a long time. His whole body immediately relaxed, if Link was so happy then whoever saved them couldn’t be a bad person, right?

“I was right, my liege?” he asked, gently pushing away a lock of hair from Link’s face, gently placing it behind his ears.

“Link exists! And he’s a real hero as you said! He’s the one who got us here!”

Ravio’s lips parted and his mouth only took the shape of a ‘oh’ as he processed those words. Link was there? Really? He never saw giant, metallic carriages back in Hyrule but who knew how things changed in more than ten years?

“Really?” He only managed to ask, his lips now curving in a large smile. They were really back in Hyrule, AH! And the boy in the green tunic was there as well, who knew what he had been up to this whole time? 

“Yes! He saved us! Well, his snake did, he doesn’t know how to swim either-”

Ravio blinked. What? He thought Link learnt how to swim when he got the flippers, the blonde was more than enthusiast that day, he remembered Link pouring more rupees than normal in items of the shop. Did he just… forget? 

“That’s… incredible. I never thought…” he’d get to see him again.

To be honest he didn’t know how they moved back to Hyrule, if the Triforce was somehow involved it certainly picked a peculiar time to activate itself. 

“I know! And you know where we are? We’re on his train!” The kid raised both hands up “It’s a giant, metallic snake he can control and people travel in its tummy!”

Ravio blinked. Even if Link was somehow an incredible hero, he just couldn’t… something felt off. Maybe things changed in that land more than he expected? But when he was reading and learning about Hyrulean monsters and creatures he never heard of giant, metallic snakes- old him would have done anything to put his hands on that kind of stuff and rent the hell out of it. 

“Huh…” he only managed, finally realizing his clothes had also been changed. Ravio wrapped his arms around his body, a wave of discomfort passing through his chest. It made sense that someone put him in the oversized tunic he was now, him and the kid fell into some kind of giant lake, but at the same time he didn’t like knowing a person touched him while he was unconscious “And where may I find him?”

“He’s working now. He said we can use this room as much as we need but we need to stay here until him and his friend are done. OH!” Little Link jumped on his feet, trying to drag the advisor after him. Ravio was immediately back of his feet, even if the situation was incredibly confusing -and he didn’t want to imagine what happened back home- Link’s enthusiasm was infectious, “They even left us some food! Here, this is yours!”

Behind a small wooden panel there were the smaller table Ravio had ever seen and some kind of military tray divided in little compartments, each one filled with different food: there were rice, vegetables, some slices of bread and a glass filled with some kind of colorful juice. Apparently the various sockets in the tray served to keep everything in order.

He immediately started salivating more, how long had it been since he had seen so much food in a single ration? 

“That’s...“ Wait. He stopped himself before sitting down, turning in Link’s direction. “My prince, did you-”  
  
“I already had my meal, Ravi! My tummy is so full, he even gave me something he called cookie and it was so, SO good! Sit down so I can tell everything because him and his snake were so incredible, they fished us out of water and then he said we can just rest and take things easy.” the prince pulled his own blue tunic “And I’m even wearing his old clothes!”

Ravio finally took place in the little seat that was right there, the kid’s enthusiastic chatters filling the calm of the room. The first spoonful of vegetables, something orange he didn’t even recognize, almost brought tears to his eyes. That was absolutely delicious.

“I don’t know how we ended here, uncle, but-” Ravio wanted to reply he had no idea either, but his mouth was stuffed with rice “-I’m happy. I.. huh… I know things weren’t going well back home.”

Link’s smile fell for a moment, but it immediately returned. The man was amazed how little he seemed to have been affected by Hilda and Nofiel’s fight, especially considering how it almost ended, but at the same time… he could tell the kid was also trying to focus on what made him happy and not what hurt him.

“We found the hero, right? He said he’ll take us to Zelda in three days, that’s the princess who knows everything. So maybe we can ask them to take us home and they can help mom.” a pause as Link crossed his arms on the table and rested his head on it “Or maybe we could take everyone here. In any case… they will fix everything, right?”

Ravio frowned, a pickled ‘something’ falling from his mouth. Perhaps he spoke too highly of his past friends. Getting to see Zelda was certainly a plus, but… he knew he put them on a really high pedestal. And if they failed once, recreating the Triforce didn’t help, what if-

“I’m… I want to believe in Link and Zelda, uncle! We will go back-” the kid punched his own cheek. “And we will save everyone.”  
  
The advisor only offered a nod as a reply as he drank the sweetest juice he had in a long while. He wanted to be realistic about how the odds of returning home and find no one got hurt that night were incredibly low but… he couldn’t just ruin his kid’s dreams. Not now.

“You know what? I’m going to draw that! Me, mom, aunt Nofiel, you, Link and Zelda! As we all make peace! I can’t wait to show it to mom!”

With that, the child hurried away and the food almost turned sour for Ravio. He lacked enough informations to figure out what was really happening but… somehow he doubted there was much to do or plan ahead when it was just him and his kid in a metallic carriage. He was going to wait and then ask Link for explanations, that was his only option.

After cleaning his tray down to the last grain of rice and pushing down a growing sense of guilt -he was there, eating like a moblin, while most of the people he knew had barely anything to put in their plates-, he finally stopped to take a good look around.

That place almost felt surreal: beside the wooden floor, every wall was made of metal. And the whole place felt like a miniature home where one person could probably live if they had very simple standards. There was a bed attached to the wall, the one where Ravio slept, there was a little desk with in bottles secured to the place and blueprints for things the advisor couldn’t even begin to understand (what the hell was a self-propelling seaflier? A three-dee Pictobox? What?), and he had his meal in what was a miniature kitchen.

Further inspection of a smaller room placed in a corner made him discover a weird seat, some kind of basin and a cubicular… thing. As soon as he pulled down one of the levers water poured out of it and Ravio let out a panicked yelp. Was that some kind of enhanced area? He reached forward to pull up the lever once more and the water stopped immediately. He glanced out of the room to check the kitchen, it also had a similar pipe and lever. Perhaps it was some kind of special power the metallic snake had.

He brushed his long, green tunic (who did it even belong to? It was way larger than him) and returned to his inspection. The rug on the floor, the pelt of some kind of animal he didn’t recognize, was old but clean. An incredibly realistic portrait on the wall shown an old man with long, frontal teeth and a wide smile. Beside that the place didn’t feel very… lived. Even inside the chest that probably served as wardrobe he only found clothes of various size, almost like whoever lived there just kept buying new stuff once in a while and never got rid of the older stuff.

He hummed before looking out of the window once again. The landscape was like nothing he had ever seen: in one direction he could see mountain… islands? Maybe? In the other all he could see was endless water. The man licked his lips, when he fell down he tasted that water and it was even worse than the one that could be find in Lorule.

“Wait…”

Ravio tracked back to the kitchen and opened the water-pump-thing. He studied the liquid pouring from the pipe, touched it finding it pleasantly cold and then, out of curiosity, he tried to taste it. Huh, no, that water had a metallic aftertaste but it was nothing compared to the saltiness of the Big Water. 

“That only raises more questions…” he told himself before checking bottles and strange metallic boxes that didn’t seem to have a proper way to be opened. All of them had vegetables and fruits painted on them, some had animals. Food rations of sort? It seemed awfully inconvenient having to smash one of those open every time, weren’t jars enough? Glass was rare, yes, but at the same time it felt less wasteful than forcing one of those open every time.

Since his exploration didn’t give him any big answer, Ravio finally settled back on the bed as the kid kept drawing on the back of what he could assume were old projects no longer necessary. Link, the one who tamed the metallic snake, did seem to use an awful lot of colors himself as he worked on his stuff, but the only thing he could do was wait for him.

At times the train slowed down, other times it sped up and he could occasionally hear a deep whistle not too far from them. Was it the beast’s voice? And where was Link’s armory? There were no swords of weapons in that place, nor any of the tools the warrior bought from Ravio. The more he studied his surroundings, the more he felt like something went incredibly wrong, but all he could do was trying to ignore his anxiety and rest.

After a while Link got bored of his colors and crawled on the mattress to lay right next to his ‘uncle’. Despite everything, for a good moment Ravio could only count his blessings and feel pure delight as he caressed the kid’s hair, his eyelids heavy once again.

They both fell asleep lulled by the metallic snake’s gentle roars and movements.

\- - -

When Ravio opened his eyes again it was dark outside, Link was already out of the bed once more and the ‘train’ was no longer moving. He couldn’t really see anything outside the window but somehow the room was perfectly lit by a magical light of sort on the ceiling. 

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. The man still felt incredibly groggy and tired, it was almost like his whole body told itself ‘oh, ok, we’re finally safe’ and decided it was the perfect moment to catch up with all the lack of sleep of the past few years. If for a second he wanted to roll back on the pillow and doze off just a bit longer, the fact that he could hear not just Link’s voice but another man’s one as well.

“You need to use your strength to pierce the upper lid, kiddo. Once it’s inside the can you just roll that little lever and it’ll open basically on its own.”  
  
“That’s… hard.”   
  
“Yeah, I know, but you can do that. Come on, try, if you make it I’ll give you another cookie after dinner.”   
  
Ravio waited, staring at the metallic partition that hid the little kitchenette and just… listened to the conversation. That wasn’t Link’s voice. Of course the hero’s voice probably changed over the years, but at the same time he could tell it wasn’t the so-called Hero of Two Worlds.

He heard his kid struggle with something, then a little ‘pop’ followed by a little ‘ta-dah’. They weren’t talking loudly, probably not to wake him up, but-

“Okay, the lever now.”  
  
“Other direction. Keep moving it.”   
  
“‘kay…”

“Careful, you’re spilling it everywhere. Wait- there, go on.”  
  
“Mh-mh. Oh, it smells so good! What is it, uncle Link?”

That was followed by a defeated sigh, Ravio immediately realized it was probably his kid who decided that he was going to call the other man ‘uncle’ and he didn’t seem to thrilled by that.

“Canned peaches. I don’t have fancy stuff here but kids should like those, right? Wanna taste?”  
  
Ravio’s mouth immediately watered at ‘peaches’, his whole body tensed at the offer of food, then he finally relaxed remembering that if this ‘Link’ didn’t kill them so far, it was unlikely he poisoned anything. Especially something sealed like the metallic boxes he saw earlier.

“Oh. Ooooh! They’re so good! Where did you get them?”  
  
“Those are sold in shops. I usually eat in the villages I stop in, so I mostly keep stuff like that around but it’s not exactly peak quality.”   
  
His not peak quality was better than what Ravio (and the kid) had in forever. It almost felt embarrassing how low Lorule fell. He still said nothing, still listening to the conversation, people tended to show more of themselves when they lowered their guard, like when they spoke with kids and didn’t suspect others to be there to eavesdrop.

“Still so good. We need those in our shops as well- I think we have shops, at least.”  
  
“Not every village has them, kiddo, so I have no idea.”

“Can I take one to bring mom? I can’t wait to go back and let her taste some of this.”  
  
“Yeeeah, ‘bout that. You sure you have no idea why you just… popped out of nowhere in the middle of the sky?”   
  
“Because I made a big big wish and I wanted everyone to stop fighting and to see Hyrule and meet you! You’re a legend! A hero!” 

Did the Triforce activate because the bearers were all in the same room and the kid really, really wanted his wish to be fulfilled? It… hardly mattered at the moment. An uneasy ‘huh’ gave Ravio the impression Link wasn’t too comfortable with that kind of treatment.“It’s kinda weird being famous in another world but I guess I’ve seen stranger stuff in my life? Grab me three trays, let’s prepare your old man one as well.”  
  
“Yessir.” He listened to metallic sounds and stuff being moved around. From the little talks that followed, mostly direction, he took the mysterious adult off the list of potential dangers (for now) and just waited them to be done. With the table being barely large enough for one, he was probably going to let his kid (or their host) have that spot, he could probably eat on the floor.

“Make sure the glass is riiiiight in its place so it won’t run around the tray. Doesn’t matter a lot now but, you know, when the train is moving it’s how you avoid spilling everything on the floor. ”  
  
“Does the train still move when you stop to eat, uncle Link?”   
  
“When my mentor joins me for a ride we tend to take turns so, yeah, sometimes I just enjoy being a passenger here. Otherwise, Train needs a driver.”   
  
“That’s what we are? Passengers?”   
  
“Yep. I rarely have people in here but… you aren’t exactly regular folks.”   
  
“Nope! I’m the Prince of Lorule and we’re here for a mission!”   
  
“Yeah, you told me. Oh, well, let’s go wake that guy up. Grab your food with both hands and let’s go out- heeeey, buddy!”

If he had the slightest doubt that he wasn’t in company of the Link he knew, Ravio had the confirmation as soon as his head popped from behind the little wall. Link, this Link, was short, green eyed, somehow had long black hair on the back of his head and, while there were strong similarities with the Hero… he looked more like a descendant than the man he once called friend.

How… how long had in been in Hyrule? The advisor had no time to linger too much in his thoughts because the man walked out of the kitchen holding two trays and approached him shoving the food on his lap and sitting on the floor near the bed.

“Kinda nice finally getting to meet you, man. You truly are a napping champion.”

“Uncle Ravi!” Link’s excited squeals immediately followed as the kid approached as well, imitating the other Link and sitting with his legs crossed on the wooden ground, tray on his lap. It was a bit too big for him to hold properly, but the… huh… blue dressed man moved one of his legs, sticking it further and offering the tray a third point of support. The kid barely registered that. “Uncle Ravi, You have to try those yellow things. They’re peaches and they’re super good!”

“Huh… I will, your highness.” He still felt full since the previous meal, his body wasn’t probably used to so much food, but he could at least try a couple of bites. The peaches were different from the juicy fruits he tasted last time he visited Hyrule, they were covered in a transparent syrup and extremely smooth… very appetizing. Still, not much room left.

“So, your kid-”  
  
“Not my kid.” was the automatic response, Ravio immediately wanted to slap himself for that. He had been so ready to reply to that kind of accusation for… months, it came natural to him.

“Well, you’re his uncle, right?”  
  
“Not exactly. I work for his mother.”   
  
“Still my uncle, mama said so!” the kid tried to interrupt, Ravio only shook his head.   
  
“Let’s say I’m currently his guardian, considering the unique situation.”   
  
The man in the blue uniform nodded, bringing to his mouth a spoonful of rice and swallowing without even chewing.

“So, your not-kid was explaining me the situation but I’m not sure I get it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt you coming from another world, I’ve seen demons, spirits and a lot of weird stuff in my life but… you were looking for me?”

“Not quite-”

“ _Yes quite_!” 

Another interruption. The adult Link hummed, chomping down another large bite of food.

“Well, I guess we can focus on the food for now. I get it, take you guys to Zelda, find a way to help your world, got it. And if the adults here still have anything to say, I guess we can chat later, right buddy? Now, little me, why don’t you tell your uncle all about the canned food? By the way-” The other man turned in his direction “To avoid confusion just… call me Engineer. That’s what most folks do anyway, it can get messy with two Links in a room.”

Ravio nodded, also getting the ‘we will talk later’ message ad the kid started talking about all kinds of foods trapped in special boxes. The ex merchant almost jumped up when a red snake’s head shown itself from under the other man’s large coat and rested its head against his shoulder, yawning, but for the rest the evening managed to be mostly uneventful. Talks about fruits, chats about Lorule was going to be saved, how Zelda and Link were going to fix everything… it was hours of jumping and bouncing and retelling the stories told the prince that finally the kid seemed to get tired.

They carefully convinced him to sit in the bed, and then lay down. He still had the strength to chat a lot about the Pink Bun of Doom before finally succumbing to his weariness.

As soon as Link closed his eyes, Ravio and the engineer carefully stepped back, being as quiet as possible. The ‘other Link’ only pointed at the door and the man was quick to follow the instruction, stepping out and realizing the metallic snake -this train thing- was sleeping in the middle of one of the mountain-islands, on some kind of road made for it. 

He took a deep breath, even the air felt cleaner than the one of his land. There were no clouds in the sky either, he hadn’t seen a single star in a decade and the view was breathtaking. Ravio crossed his arms, rubbing his hands on them with a shudder and realizing the breeze was rather cold, even if still pleasant. It passed a good moment before Link finally decided to follow him outside, now carrying two bottles and glasses with him.

“So, buddy…” Ravio didn’t like too much being addressed that way but considering he owed that man his life he decided not to mention it. “What’s really going on here?”

“I wish I had the answer. Lady Hilda, the queen of my world, she… she was having a fight with one of our best knights.”  
  
“Mhm, the kid told me so much.”

Engineer started pouring a purple liquid in one of the glasses, a white one in the other, and offered the latter to Ravio. He hesitantly reached for it, sniffing the content before gasping. He recognized the smell, that was wine.

“Uh… thank you, but I don’t drink.”  
  
“You sure? You look incredibly tense.”   
  
“I’m sure. Thank you for the offer but-”   
  
“Okay. Then grab this one.”   
  
The man offered the other glass before pouring down the white liquid and filling a second glass for himself with the purple stuff. The advisor got the second glass, a bit reassured that Link was now drinking from the same glass he offered away first, and sniffed the content of the second one. It was… huh…

“Yeah, not fancy stuff. Just a juice made with a mix of berries, but it’s the only thing I had fresh, kept it in the water reservoir. But, yeah, I admit your whole visit was kind of a surprise. You don’t see people rain from the sky every day.”  
  
“Right. About that… I should probably thank you for saving us.”   
  
“Nah, it’s been Pon Pona. She grabbed a rope and decided to swim to get you, she’s way faster than me. Right girl?”   
  
Ravio tilted his head, looking at the snake poking its head out of the coat once more to move in front of Link’s face and nuzzle her nose against his.

“I see. Then I’m very grateful, Pon Pona…” What a ridiculous name. The snake actually turned her head and he was almost sure she smiled in her direction, but perhaps it was a mix of him not being familiar with that kind of animals and darkness playing tricks on his mind. “But back on the main topic. I’m afraid I don’t have many answers for you. We were fighting, the Triforce activated, somehow, and we found ourselves in Hyrule. Which is not our world.”  
  
“Huh… yeah, about that…” Engineer raised one of his hands, scratching his cheek and clearly uneasy “First, it’s New Hyrule. Second, I’m not entirely sure what a Triforce even is.”   
  
“... what?”   
  
“Yeah. The kid described it as ‘some bright triangles of light’ but those are Power Gems for us? And there are a lot of those around the land, not just three. I collected a bunch of those just traveling around.”   
  
Ravio felt the need to sit down on one of the nearby rocks. 

“You never heard of the Triforce.”  
  
“Nope. Only power gems. Got some in very weird ways, once I even had to find a husband for a woman living in our coastal town, it was a parade of awkwardness since she ended up picking the very last man we found interested in marrying her. I don’t even get how one would want to settle down with someone they just met but that’s beside the point, she had some very weird requirements and-”   
  
“I’m certain that’s very interesting but…” Wait, even the Link of his time didn’t know about the Triforce at first, perhaps this could be solved with Zelda’s intervention. The Royal family was the keeper of most secrets of Hyrule, she was going to know where their Triforce was, right? “I suppose a meeting with the queen, or princess, will be necessary for me and the kid to figure out what to do.”   
  
“Queen Zelda of the Great Seas.” Engineer only replied, shrugging “She’s got a big title and all but… try not to be too formal if it’s just us. She doesn’t like that.”   
  
“I see.” Very different from Hilda who, even privately, often requested what she considered an ‘appropriate ‘behavior‘. “May I ask where we are and, perhaps, more information about this land? Hyrule changed a lot from-” Last time he visited, “what I read about.”

“Well, buddy… as I said this is New Hyrule, the old one is literally underwater. Or so ancient legends say.”

Ravio was suddenly real glad he was already sitting down when Engineer gave him that last bit of information. He immediately turned his attention toward the Big Water. That was Hyrule?  
  
“Yep. That’s the Great Sea. My Grandpa comes from there, him and some other folks discovered this land and decided to settle down, but for the longest time most Hylians have just been… people of the sea.” A pause, Ravio still didn’t turn in the other’s direction “They say some kind of bird tribe still lives out there, flying between islands, but I can’t tell how much truth there’s in this.”   
  
The advisor didn’t reply, not even when Engineer stopped talking. Him and Little Link ended up in some kind of distant future of Hyrule, then? How differently was time flowing now that the two worlds were no longer connected? If in Hyrule it was much faster than Lorule, perhaps he still had a chance to go back during the night of the fight and at least protect his queen. He swallowed, finally turning around and looking at the pebbles covered ground between his feet.   
  
“So, yeah. Things seem complicated. But don’t worry, I don’t mind having a few guests for a couple of days, I’m sure Zelda will know what to do next. And trust me, if there’s any way to make an import-export route as your kid-”   
  
“Not my kid.”   
  
“As your not-kid suggested, I’m sure we’ll find it.”   
  
Silence. Ravio sighed and moved his hand forward, opening it and offering it palm up.

“You know what? I changed my mind. I think I really need a drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Ravio's adventure as Single Dad is starting now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slow chapter as we work our way in the actual story, because going fast isn't for me.
> 
> I also want to personally thank @AmericanFrankenstein for her patience with me and for teaching me a thing or two!

Perhaps Ravio still didn’t know exactly where he was, when in Hyrule’s history he managed to be brought or what him and the kid could do to fix their unique situation. What he knew was that he was absolutely in love with the shower in Link’s miniature bathroom.

Since the kid was sleeping and Engineer wanted to return to work (He apparently had a delivery due to the next afternoon and stopping for dinner already placed him behind schedule.), Ravio asked if there was anything he could do to pass time, he wasn’t tired after sleeping for most of the day. And that’s when the other man delivered.

“Well, honestly? I mean no offense, bud, but…” that’s how the whole conversation started as the other reached for the bottom of Ravio’s long braid, bringing it to his nose and sniffing. “You kinda stink. What about just… taking a good shower? After that I can bring you some of the books I have in the engine room at the next stop.”   
  
That’s how a new world opened to the Royal advisor. The taller pipe in the weird metallic cabinet? That was a shower. And the Train’s shower could magically (Well, from his point of view) generate warm water just by turning the levers right. It was already impressive enough as Link explained how it worked to him, then something else magical happened.

Engineer reached for the wall, pulling down a little, hidden panel and showing a little cabinet built into the metal. Inside it, on three different shelves, countless colorful bottles.

“Yeah so… I have a few things I don’t use, I like normal soap better, but… serve yourself?”   
  
Shampoo, body creams, conditioners, oils… there was everything in that little cabinet for a perfect luxury bath (well, shower). Ravio reached forward to grab one of the bottles, it still had a small ribbon on.   
  
“Presents?”   
  
“Yeah. Let’s say I have a lot of friends.”   
  
He inspected the little container, uncorking it and smelling the content. Lavender, huh? Delicious. Another bottle blessed him with the wonderful aroma of fresh citrus fruits, the one right after with something he didn’t recognize but it still made his heart melt.

“Vanilla Honey Body Wash? This is…”   
  
“Yeah, go for that. I will leave you some towels on the table.”   
  
“Are you sure I can-”

“Buddy… trust me, those are a bit too fancy for me. I work with coal and smoke every day, Coconut oil is wasted on this skin.”

“Well, if you say so…”   
  
“Go enjoy yourself, see you in a couple of hours.”   
  
With that Ravio had been left in the sole company of a wonderful, water gifting machine and countless small bottles filled with wondrous liquids. Since Link was sleeping and far too long had passed from the last time Ravio enjoyed a relaxing bath, he decided to fully embrace his opportunity in the shower booth. 

He put all his clothes on the strange basin (Sink, Engineer called it.), undid his hair and allowed the pleasantly warm water to flow on his body for a long moment without even opening his eyes. His whole body started to relax almost immediately and he let out a few little moans of happiness as the droplets hit his face: this was much easier than getting the water from a well, warming it up and then bathing with the knowledge he was also supposed to empty the content of the tub right after.

There was no sitting in lukewarm and dirty water after scrubbing the dirt of his skin, there was no feeling still a bit gross right after leaving the tub, it was just him and the most beautiful rain he ever experienced.

After savoring the moment for a while, he finally reached for the bottles, conveniently within reach of the shower. He could leave out of the door for a moment the fact that he was in a foreign world, he could ignore his sense of duty and his worries to spoil himself like he used to do in Link’s place -well, his old Link’s place- back in the days, at least until he had a chance to be proactive about the situation instead of just being carried around.

The fact he had a few glasses of wine definitely helped, too.

After checking and sniffing various bottles, he settled for a blueberry body wash that he spread all over his body with a loofah that had been left untouched for who knows how long in that cabinet. He bit his lips as the wonderful smell filled his nostrils, his mouth curved in a smile and the man took all the time he wanted just to scrub every part of his body, especially where the skin had started accumulating and get too dry in the past few months.

The truth was he died during the fight between Hilda and Nofiel and now he was in paradise, wasn’t he? All the food, having a happy Link around, the wonders of a shower… it did feel a bit surreal, almost like a dream.

The second step in the shower was taking care of his hair. He checked a few more bottles, his mouth drooling over the alluring scent of berry mixes, vanilla elixirs, something called chocolate that also had his eyes flutter in bliss, and finally picked matching shampoo and conditioner (Ah! He had not seen conditioner since his days in Hyrule!).

_ Strawberries. _

He still remembered the little bushes hidden behind Link’s house, he loved sitting there with Sheerow and just picking the ripe berries, relaxing and enjoy the pleasant breeze. It was just him, his flying friend, and almost no worry in the world as the Hero took care of everything.

The smile fell as he started massaging his head, a layer of bubbles slowly growing as he proceeded to cover the whole length of his hair with it, but he managed to push his melancholy away: he wasn’t back in the world where he always dreamed to return, that was true, but that place didn’t seem too bad either. Yes, he only met one person so far but it had accessible food, the wonders of what Engineer called ‘plumbing’ and the world didn’t seem to be under any kind of imminent danger.

“Come on, old man-” he said, slapping his own cheeks, “Try to relax for now. I’m sure Zelda will know what to do.”

He turned on the faucet once more, cleaning himself from both body wash and shampoo, then proceeded with the conditioner, slowly undoing all the little knots that formed between his long hair over time. The man had no idea how long he then spent just taking care of himself as the train kept humming and vibrating under his feet, but when he left the sun was already starting to rise once more in the distance. 

Awaiting him there were a bright, blue, flower patterned bathrobe (That one, also, incredibly fancy and apparently never used before, it still had some kind of tag.), some towels that were a bit on the older side and large, clean clothes. Even if he didn’t know where his robe went, Ravio had no room to complain as he made himself comfortable and slowly started to pat his hair with the towel to dry them as much as he could. 

After finding a brush, he sat over the small table in the kitchen, peacefully working on his braid. It wasn’t going to turn out perfectly, there was no mirror in the little cart and the initial part of his hairdo required a lot of care to turn out right: Lorulean braids started on the top of the head from three little locks and descended incorporating more and more locks of hair in an elaborate pattern. A tedious process, yes, and a difficult one to do on his own (at home he put himself between two mirrors to check his back as he proceeded), but it had always been his weekly break of self care and old habits were hard to die.

His fingers moved with incredible ease between the hair, this despite them being still a bit wet, as he worked his way down. Whether it turned out fine or not didn’t matter too much, not now, and he could eventually redo it before meeting with Zelda, right? It wasn’t like he had to impress the kid or the engineer, they weren’t exactly Lorulean nobles, so Ravio just enjoyed himself until it was done.

Still in the bathrobe, that thing was more comfortable than anything he ever tried, the man returned to the bathroom to check the bottles and look for something for Link. The kid could probably use a shower himself and while he didn’t feel comfortable helping him with it… the man could at least prepare the things for the kid. 

He kept moving around the small cart, stopping only to wonder how fair this Papuchia Village had to be. In part he was afraid to see what this New Hyrule looked like, on the other side he was eager to learn more about it and meet its people. They couldn’t be worse than the angry and starved Loruleans he was used to, right?

Oh, Hilda… he just wanted to know if she was still safe.

Ravio shook his head, deciding to at least try to prepare the breakfast. He didn’t know how the stove worked so there was no way to make any rice, even if finding the jar where Engineer kept it didn’t take much effort. He took three trays out, wondering for a moment if he was crossing over the lines of hospitality -when did he begin to care? With the other Link he took over the house without a second thought. Then again, this time his prince also depended on that man’s willingness to help, so....- but everyone needed to eat, right?

He placed the trays on the mini kitchenette and enjoyed rummaging between the food supplies. Engineer was a true fan of pickled red onions, huh? There was plenty of cans of various brands containing them so… either the man liked having extra supplies or he purchased food in bulk and those were the relatively unwanted ones that kept accumulating in a corner. 

Out of curiosity, he decided to open one of the tins in question, not without problems, and distribute the content between the three trays. Licking one of his fingers Ravio was delighted to find out those were sweet and sour pickles, hopefully Link was also going to try them: the prince wasn’t exactly too thin but Ravio had the impression he was a bit too small for his age. Then again, perhaps that was just genetics, considering neither him or Hilda were exactly that tall as well.

Onions, peaches, he tried to look for the sweetest vegetables he could remember tasting to please the kid’s taste buds, and he was done. With nothing else really left to do, Ravio grabbed the small chair near the desk, pulled it near the window and decided to wait for the train to stop once more while enjoying the landscape.   
  
\- - - 

The sun was already up in the sky when the metallic snake started to slow down, stopping once more in the middle of a small island. There were no mountains on this one, nor trees, but the strange road divided once more to probably allow the train to rest and still grant passage to others. Huh, he didn’t notice that the night before, then again it was dark and Ravio didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings. 

The air also felt much warmer than he was used to but perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks on him and, hey, the breeze still made everything pleasant.

Engineer hopped off the front of the train, tiredly walking his way back of what was his traveling house. He was yawning and Ravio wondered how many hours the other man went without sleep, perhaps it was time to wake up Link and allow their host to rest for a while. 

Ravio saw him approach, suddenly stop as he saw the ex merchant, then raise one finger like saying ‘one minute, please’, and hurry back to the front of the Train. When he jumped out again, the man was now carrying some books and huge papers.

He was so tired he was starting to forget about stuff, huh? 

“Good morning Engineer.” The advisor commented, stepping aside and offering him access to the cart, his low tone of voice hopefully being enough to let the other know Little Link was still asleep. Adult Link hopped on without too many compliments, yawning once again and placing what he was carrying on the desk. Those were… maps, weren’t they? Ravio found himself incredibly eager to check those up, who knew how different this land was compared to the one he knew.

“Good morning, buddy. Rested well?”   


“I did. Showers are as amazing as you anticipated, I feel a Hylian reborn.”

“Glad that helped, buddy and…” Engineer stopped, turned in Ravio’s direction and reached once more for his hair and sniffed. The Advisor had to restrain himself from pointing out how incredibly rude that was, but as long as it was just the tip of his hair he could at least tolerate. “Why, hello fruitcake.”

Fruitcake? First, he never approved that kind of informality, second, between all things… a fruitcake? He didn’t want to be compared to a sad slap of dry stuff poorly smashed together. Ravio hated it in Lorule, when he could still find it around, and he hated it in Hyrule as well during the first visit. Still… he had to keep things friendly for the kid.

“You told me to use whatever I wanted…”

“Yeah, it’s just… You smell like a fruit salad right now. Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. I see you also made yourself comfortable. That’s good.”   
  
Ravio’s cheeks tinted just slightly, he knew keeping the floral bathrobe was highly undignified, but…

“It covers me more than the tunics you left…”   


“Fair, those aren’t even tunics, they’re Alfonzo’s uniforms and… yeah, I guess whatever makes you feel more homey. Maybe once we arrive at the beach I can give you some money to get some proper clothes. I’m all for not respecting formalities, but you gotta look decent when you go in front of Zelda. Anyway…” The engineer say down on the old rug after grabbing just one of the maps and gestured in front of himself to invite Ravio to do the same.

The advisor immediately frowned as he joined the other and laid his eyes on the map. It was… definitely not similar to Hyrule.

“So, this is the place you’re in. New Hyrule. Hylians basically only live in the Ocean and Forest realm, those two in the bottoms…” he shook his head like he realized he forgot to say something first. “The whole kingdom itself is divided in basically four quadrants, and between those you can find five realms. Now we’re currently traveling in the Ocean one, I have to deliver wood to a fishing village so they can smoke their fishes. You need to try their smoked mackerels, just saying. They’re especially delicious with rice and some kind of coconut paste, that’s something worth wasting money for. ”

Ravio’s eyebrow raised just slightly, he didn’t pay much attention to it the day before but he had the impression that the other… often derailed conversations even if he had the intent to focus on something when he started.

“I guess I will try it. Back to the Realms… what are you planning to do?”   
  
“Right. So, Today I finish my job. I was planning to get some fishes and deliver them to the Anouki Village but… I have enough rupees to allow myself a break, I’ll head back to the forest realm and get you and your kid-” Link didn’t even seem to register the tired glare Ravio thrown in his direction. “To Castle town. Zelda lives there with her not-so-fiancé-yet and I’ll just… send her a seagull? I should still have the flute somewhere to call them… or did I leave it home? Mmmh… anyway-” the other clapped his hands, his ears immediately dropped as he turned to look at Little Link and when the kid still didn’t show any sign of waking up, he decided to continue “You will have to bear with me for two more days, probably. Today we will reach Beach City. I do my job, you buy yourself some stuff. maybe pay the Wise One a visit since she’s a great fortune teller. Oh, and grab yourself something to do with the kid. I have no other passengers right now and things can get boring.”   
  
“I see… is that all?”   
  
“Yep! Well, no, I just… get a mattress somewhere? If you’re going to stay here you’re going need a bed too.”   
  
“That’s… I don’t want to say no to your offers but… food, a bed, clothes, are you sure we can take so much? We’re basically strangers.”

The other shook his head, rolling his eyes and huffing.

“Listen, Fruitcake.” Link started, pointing around to his room “I have all I need right here and I have more rupees than any normal person can use, I will be fine.”

Ten years prior he would have jumped up to that information, rich people always had a special place in his heart, the merchant in him loved their wallets. Now? It still had his ears twitch, but his first reaction was thinking ‘oh, good, at least for now Link’s needs can be covered’.

Oh. If they had to spend a lot of time in that land he was probably supposed to see if there was any way to have an income. He couldn’t just rely on Link and Zelda to give his kid food and clothes. Ravio sighed, deciding he was going to take advantage of this Papuch… the beach village’s trip to see how the economy worked in that place. He was rusty, yes, but money making used to be a passion of his…

“Okay then… I greatly appreciate your help. Is there anything you need me to do to repay the favor?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Helping people in need is kind of my sub-job. Getting to travel with my baby?” the man petted the floor, clearly speaking about his Train. “That’s enough as a prize for me. I don’t know exactly what you will need but until we get to Zelda you can count on good, old Mister Engineer. Enjoy the ride, if you want to sit in one of the passengers carts we can do that too, and eat something. I mean, the kid looks fine but you’re all bones."

“I’m not comfortable with you making comments about my body.”   
  
“Fair. Huh… so yeah. Two days and I’m taking you to the princess and then-”

The rumor of sheets moving caught the two men’s attention and in less than a couple of seconds the little prince was already dashing in the engineer’s direction, trying to throw his arms around his neck. It was almost comical how the older Link just seemed resigned to that as he sighed and pet the kid’s head with one of his gloved hands.

“Uncle Link! You weren’t a dream! I’m so, so happy we’re still here and with the greatest Hero of all times!”

Ravio had to admit it to himself: he was a big jealous of the Engineer. He was usually Little Link’s favorite.

“Right. Well, kiddo, since you’re here you can join us for the morning. Gotta eat some grub and make ourselves comfortable, right?” Engineer got back on his feet, holding the kid with one arm with incredible ease despite his small size. “We’ll get to our destination in a while but my stomach is crying right now and- oh, I see your old man prepared breakfast. How nice of him.”

The advisor raised an eyebrow, it wasn’t the first time the other man just… dropped the conversation to have a lighter one for the kid.

“Right? Uncle Ravi is the best! He knows a lot of stories and games! And he told me about you. I can’t wait until we get to live a big, big adventure!”

Ravio saw a small pout on Engineer’s lips, but it immediately disappeared as the other placed the kid on the bed and then proceeded to bring the breakfast to everyone.   
  
“You know, Fruitcake-” the other started, immediately stabbing the onions and bringing a good portion to his mouth. So he did like them, huh?   
  
“Oh? I want to call uncle Ravi ‘ _ Fruitcake _ ’ too!”

“I’d rather not, my prince.”   
  
Engineer chuckled, shaking his head “Well, anyway… we’re leaving in thirty minutes and we’ll reach our destination in two hours, you should enjoy the rest of the ride. I got you some books Zelda forgot here last time we had a trip together. Most of them are novels but it’s better than nothing, right?”

“But I want to hear your stories, Uncle!”   
  
“That will be for another time, Squirt.” Engineer stretched, yawning “Oh, well… it’s going to be a bit boring for the rest of the trip so…” 

Ravio didn’t like at all when the other man wiggled his eyebrows in Link’s direction, if anything he put him in a defensive mood. Whatever Engineer was about to suggest, the Advisor was definitely going to supervise them.

“Wanna see how you drive a train?”   
  
\- - -

The engine room was the loudest place Ravio ever experienced. He didn’t understand what all those button, levers and ropes were about, beside being used to control the giant metallic snake, but the man wasn’t eager to find out. Link on the other hand… His attitude totally changed as soon as he started explaining the kid what the train was about, how it worked and why his train was, apparently, better than any other one.

The heart of the engine was some kind of oversize oven and he shoveled coal inside it to keep the fire running. The advisor only understood, like, half of the other man's talks.

“You usually have to bring engines to the right temperature before you throw the coal in. This baby? She doesn’t need it: I can throw the good stuff inside her-” Ravio almost wanted to interrupt him and ask to use a more appropriate language in front of the kid, but fortunately enough Little Link didn’t seem to mind “and she starts burning on her own. The spirits who made her knew what they were doing.”

“Spirits… what do you mean with that?”   
  
He didn’t even seem to register Ravio’s question as he continued gloating about his machine. Technology was surprising in that world, the Advisor had to concede that, but at the same time he couldn’t quite share the enthusiasm the two Links seemed to have. One was happy to learn from his most recent hero -oh, how Ravio wanted to say ‘wrong Link’-, the other was walking on clouds because he had someone who was listening to him talk about trains and machines and the various signals present on the tracks.

The giant cannon mounted right behind the engine, the advisor noticed, had not been mentioned yet. A self defense mechanism, perhaps? He didn’t hear the other fire anything so far so… even if it was what caught most of Ravio’s attention, perhaps it was just a standard thing to have ‘in case’.

“You see that one, Squirt? It means it’s time to blow the whistle. Probably a crossing further down the line. You ready?”

Engineer held the kid up and, even if the other offered them ear protections, Ravio still found himself pressing them against his head. If they allowed them to speak, even if they had to yell, they couldn’t be that effective, right? With a slight grimace, he prepared himself.

“Ready, uncle Link!” 

After saying that, the kid pulled down a rope, a loud whistle sound blasting above them. Ravio immediately regretted leaving the cart where the other lived.

\- - -

The ex merchant decided to step in when Link tried to have the kid shovel some coal in the engine. Nope, not happening. He stepped between them, politely told Link the young prince probably needed a shower as well before arriving at the village and the other seemed to agree: the train was stopped just long enough for them to move back, despite Little Link’s protests.

He was not allowing the heir to Lorule’s throne to play with fires larger than him.

Ravio was still drying the kid’s hair when the train started slowing down once more. A problem, perhaps? A quick check out of the window told him that they reached their destination: not too far from the tracks there were many little islands connected by bridges, each one with a big, wooden house built on it. He couldn’t see the place too well but one area seemed to have more buildings than others and a place with a bright purple roof seemed to tower over the others.

“Looks like we’re about to get our first taste of this new world, my liege.” 

They stopped in what was probably the ‘station’ Link spoke about and Ravio was quick to jump off the cart. Wow… the air was incredibly warm, what even was that place’s problem? The old hero’s house already used to be much warmer than anything he was used to but he assumed it was just because it was summer and he had two layers of clothes (As usual). 

In Papuchia? He was still only wearing a bathrobe and it still was unpleasantly hot.

“Well, I think it’s time to see our new friend and ask how much he can afford to give…” His voice faded as he finally met the local residents who were coming to greet the Engineer (He was right, everyone called him Mr.Engineer) “Us.”   
  
Ravio immediately moved behind Link and covered his eyes, his cheeks burning. Women were wearing dresses that barely reached their knees, some men had their chests covered with an open short or nothing at all. Oh, sweet creators, one of the young ladies was in her undergarments, with just a towel around her waist. What was wrong with that place?   
  
It wasn’t like he had never seen a woman’s body, the kid in front of him was the proof, but… showing off like that? That wasn’t normal for Lorulean standards.   
  
“Uncle Ravi, is everything okay?”

He bit his lips, momentarily pushing Link back inside the cart and allowing Engineer to coordinate people for whatever he had to do there. It almost took three hours before the other was done and he decided to check on them.

“Squirt? Fruitake? You okay?”   
  
“Yes, uncle Link! Ravi just… didn’t want to bother you during work.”   
  
“Yeah, sorry, forgot to give you the money before we got here and things got chaotic. Oh, well, ready to go shopping? I could use a new wrench myself, been planning to get one for a while.”   
  
“... Link?” Both Engineer and the prince turned in Ravio’s direction, not sure which one was being addressed. The Advisor didn’t care, he had more pressing problems right now “Why is everyone running around naked, here?”   
  
And, most important, how was he supposed to take a child outside to witness such a thing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently showers are amazing, being properly dressed to live by the sea isn't. Bear with Ravio, there is no sea access in ALBW Lorule/Hyrule... (and if you look at his model in Hyrule warriors, he's wearing high boots, pants and another purple shirt under his robe, that guy doesn't know what being under dressed means.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of 'settling down' for Ravio!

Engineer spent at least five minutes snickering on the bed after Ravio explained him why he was so distressed. The Advisor noticed not without some kind of disgust that the white sheets were being covered in a layer of black dirt wherever the other rolled on it. Now he could see why he needed a shower built in his train, whatever job the train conductor did… it left him covered in filth.

“I suppose you’ve never been at a beach before, buddy?” That was what Link, the older one, managed to finally speak between chuckles.

“I can’t say I have, no, yet I’d rather not expose my prince to this kind of indecency.”

“Well, Fruitcake-”   
  
“Can you stop with those ridiculous nicknames for a moment?”

He was there, worried about his kid’s innocence, and that man was laughing in his face. Was it normal for Hyruleans to show their bodies around like that? What even happened to that place? He glanced in Link’s direction, the kid only seemed confused and a bit uneasy, but he was letting them talk. Remembering how they got there in the first place, Ravio took a deep breath and decided to keep himself composed: there was no need to upset his child again.   
  
“Okay. Listen, Ravi...”

The Advisor pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and deciding not to remember the other that even Ravi counted as unwanted nickname. For Link, he was doing that for Link.

“I don’t know how things work in Lorule but this place is pretty warm, people don’t need to wear more than they already do.”   
  
“With all the respect, it doesn’t seem too warm to me, Mister Engineer.”   
  
“That’s because you’ve been living the whole time in a cart with air-conditioning, friend. Do you really think the heat in the engine room only came from the fire? It’s the Ocean Realm, not the Snow one.” 

Ravio crossed his arms, glancing outside. He had no idea what air-conditioning was but if it had anything to do with how stepping from inside the car to outside made him sweat… it was probably some kind of power that kept the mobile house cold. 

“You do seem comfortable in your coat…”   
  
“I live in it. That doesn’t change the fact I’m covered in sweat and I can’t wait to get a chance to shower myself.” the engineer only seemed to realize he was covering the bed in dirt at that point. He jumped back on his feet, shaking his head at the clear marks of his body on the white sheets before going back to the conversation “I get it, maybe in your place this isn’t normal, but it’s normal for us. At least here. Bear with it as long as we’re here and then other cities will be different. Well, most of them.”

“That’s…” Ravio instinctively wrapped his arms around his body. While this new Hyrule seemed to have low standards of decency, he was the visitor coming from outside, right? “Unfortunate.” 

The advisor’s attention went once more on the kid, but before he could think too much the other man stepped toward the door once more, opening it and checking outside.

“Hey, Ocra?” He yelled, waving his hand toward someone. Ravio heard a woman answer with an exasperated ‘I already told you it’s Orca’ and the engineer was hopping off the train. Less than a minute later he was coming back with a lady with white hair and a kid a bit younger than Link attached to your gown.

“So… we need stuff. And I can’t buy all stuff for you. Not the clothes. And I have only one or two set that can fit the kid. We should go at least to the market, as I said money isn’t a problem for me, but I understand you don’t want to drag Little Link with us so-”   
  
The woman rolled her eyes, interrupting him “What he’s trying to say is: if you need to go shopping… go ahead, I’ll watch over the kid for you.”   
  
Ravio immediately felt defensive, he wasn’t going to leave his kid with a total stranger! Yet before he had a chance to say anything, the other was already slipping behind him, placing both hands behind his back and pushing him outside.

“Hey! I’d be grateful if you didn’t touch me, mr. Engineer.” His body still reacted telling him ‘danger’ when anyone did, even if he knew about the man’s good intentions “And I didn’t agree to leave.”   
  
“She’s a mom, fruitcake, she got this. You behave, little hero, okay?”   
  
“Yes uncle Link!”

The woman sighed, pushing her son in Little Link’s direction and approaching Ravio with a friendly smile on her lips.

“Listen, young man, I promise I won’t leave the kids unattended. I owe Engineer there for a few things and… I got you two covered. Go…”   
  
It still took a bit of convincing, but in the end the advisor got some blue slippers and decided to follow the other.

\- - -

Papuchia Village was… loud. 

Unlike the villages of Lorule, no one hid inside their houses, nor they seemed wary of whoever visited. Even if Ravio was wearing only the most embarrassing set of clothes, between bathrobe and slippers, no one seemed to pay much attention to him.

There were plants he had never seen before, foods and drinks made with local fruits that made his mouth water just passing by and… yes, Engineer was right, it was incredibly warm outside. Ravio was wearing the bare minimum and he still felt the heat on his skin whenever they left a shadowed area. How the other Link was walking around still wearing his coat was a mystery.

“So… that’s the market. Aaaand-” Engineer pointed at some colorful stalls before reaching for his pockets and taking out of them a handful of orange rupees. The merchant in Ravio screamed inside at the sight. First: how right was that man since he carried around money like it was breadcrumbs? Second: Why was he walking around with no care with so much value on his person? Did rupees have less value in New Hyrule? It seemed so considering the man simply put the equivalent of a thousand rupees between his hands like it was nothing. “There we go. Go get something nice, I’ll try to see what I can do for supplies for the trip, can’t keep you and kiddo on canned food. Plus one guy’s selling us his old cot for fifteen rupees, gotta go fetch that one as well.”

The advisor blinked, looking down at his hands and then back once more at the engineer. If a cot was fifteen… then there wasn’t a massive inflation problem, was it? The other man just… handed him a bunch of money like it was nothing. 

“So… you weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t poor.” he commented, slipping the orange rupees inside a small bag Engineer gave him before leaving.

“Nope. Not at all… I love my job and I have a pretty frugal lifestyle, so there’s that. Add the fact I’m the only engineer able to transport dark ore all around the land and bam- I’m rich. Now, if you don’t mind…”   
  
The other seemed eager to leave, yet it took Ravio just a quick glance to the merchants that were already greeting ‘Link’ with big smiles on their faces. The lady behind the stall full of precious fabrics already started chatting with him, two men behind a food stall were readjusting fishes on their counters and someone who seemed to sell… metallic bits of something? He was casually taking off tag prices from his place as well. 

He recognized the pleased glanced they were exchanging, they were the same Ravio and Sheerow shared when they realized what a pushover the Link from the older world was. Oh, for fuck’s sake… he was a merchant at heart and that engineer was his main source of money at the moment, he wasn’t going to allow anyone to scam him.

“Excuse me?” he interjected, stepping between engineer and the woman, “I assume you’re a close friend of Link but we’re-”  _ don’t look down at her chest, Ravio, just don’t. Women of Papuchia don’t cover themselves but you’re better than that. _ “In a hurry.”

“Buddy, we can-”   
  
“Mister engineer, you said you were going to show me the place, didn’t you? I apologize for rushing you but we still have plenty to do.”

She was clearly stalling the man so the others could price their stuff once more or get ready to welcome their wealthy patron after hiding the cheapest stuff. Now, if he used his knowledge about money, perhaps…

“Okay, Fruitcake, I’m all yours.”

Ravio sighed, moving behind Engineer’s back and being the one pushing him forward, now. He really, really needed to make it clear he didn’t like being called like that, especially in a public setting, but there were more important things now. 

“Come on. What was in the list? Clothes, food, what else?”

“Your bed.”   
  
“Right, my bed. Anything else?”

“Not really, unless you need something. Already asked to get my water reservoir filled, my baby won’t run if it’s empty, ordered a bunch of coal… that should be all?

Ravio squinted in his direction, then glanced at the merchants who were clearly getting ready to take more money than needed from Link. Now, he had been there, all that renting and selling items to his hero even though he knew Link needed them to save the day… but this time he was on the other side of the battlefield, and in name of Little Link’s future, Ravio was ready to protect Engineer’s cash!

\- - -

“Ahhh, fine lady discount, eh?” The advisor offered his best smile, tilting his head and pointing in the direction of a woman who was now purchasing fishes at a nearby stall, "But not into men, eh? Hike up the price for my partner here?"

While Engineer was completing his previous transaction, Ravio kept an eye on the stand they were supposed to visit next: the train driver needed some valves and other metallic bits for… something, plus a new wrench and other stuff the advisor was unfamiliar with. Well, he could not understand the technology of the world he was living in, yet he was perfectly fluent in the language of money.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, lad.” the merchant tried to reply.

Ravio’s smile only grew wider as he chuckled, hands now jointed in front of him “Oh, you know what I’m talking about.” he said with a wink “I saw her pay less for the same items and I have to admit, for quite some time I thought it’d work fine for me as well. Never got her interested in me and I only lost money.”

Engineer, who was carrying most of the items they bought and the various invoices for goods that had to be delivered to the train, only let out a groan as he leaned his weight against the stand itself. After two days without sleeping, tiredness was clearly starting to catch up as he was getting more and more bored.

Ravio straight up ignored him.

“I’m not trying to court anyone, young man. I’m just doing business.”   
  
Ah, Ravio didn’t even realize how much he missed discussing business with other merchants until he started doing so at the market. The advisor raised both arms and offered a cordial chuckle. The vendor frowned looking up at him.

“No one would blame you if you did.” A wink “But now that she’s gone, perhaps you should put back the original price tags, my friend, or other people may take advantage of it.”   
  
“Fruitcake, come on, it’s only two hundred rupees…”

He ignored Link’s plea. So far got them a huge discount on the new clothes for both Ravio and the kid by carefully commenting on small flaws on the fabrics or the seams, managed to talk one of the merchants about doing a little discount on the name of selling in bulk instead of having Link purchase his normal supplies, and he wasn’t going to let the engineer get scammed like that.

“I’m just saying it’s lovely that he has that lady’s well being at heart, but at the same time maybe we could work out a little discount for our own persona as well and-”   
  
“I’m glad you’re having fun but no. I need a shower and I need some sleep.”

After saying that, Link only slammed another couple of orange rupees to the table, like he didn’t even care, and grabbed what he previously ordered from the table, tossing it in one of the bags - the one where Ravio’s new, clean clothes were. The advisor grimaced, not entirely sure if he was more offended about the fact that Engineer decided to overpay the merchant to a ridiculous level or by how he threw dirty stuff over things Ravio was supposed to wear.

“Sorry, Wadatsumi, see you next time! Come on, buddy, let’s go!”

Considering the other was pretty much pushing him away, despite having his hands full, and that the transaction was over, Ravio sighed and just let the other have things his way, after all it was his wallet that was being emptied without reason.

When the advisor tried to reach for the bags to share their weight, the other man just shook his head and kept walking, and it was only when they were near the train and distant enough from the others that Engineer put everything down and sat on one of the benches. 

“Sit, buddy, let’s have a quick chat before we go back to the kid.”

From the tone alone, Ravio could tell Link was either exhausted or not too happy with the situation. Considering their current… arrangement, the advisor agreed to take a seat as well. Link seemed rather prone to interrupt their talks and when they spent the first night outside it was mostly Ravio drinking a bit too much and complaining about the situation home.

“So… I don’t even know how to start this but… you good?”   
  
“Excuse me?”   
  
The other seemed to struggle for a moment, seeking the right words and clearly failing to find them. In the end Engineer clicked his tongue, took his hat off for the first time since Ravio met him and turned in his direction with the whole body, passing with a leg over the bench.

“Listen, I’m glad visiting the market made you happy, when you got that deal down about canned onions- I think it was the first time I saw you crack a smile since we met, but… huh… I don’t even know what point I’m trying to make but, you sure you good?”

“Yes. I thank you for your concern but I’m perfectly fine.”

“Mh… because I can tell you like being there, buy and sell, but… huh…” the engineer scratched the back of his head “So, first thing first. You bought a lot of food, anyone not knowing me would wonder if you’re moving in permanently, not just for the two days of travel ahead of us.”

While there was no accusatory tone in the other man’s words, Ravio could tell Link wasn’t too pleased with how he invested his rupees.

“I assumed purchasing a lot of supplies would benefit you anyway in the long run…”   
  
“Huh… yeah. And listen, I’m all for you putting on a bit of meat on those bones-” Ravio had to refrain himself from reminding the other that he wasn’t, in fact, comfortable with comments about his body. The advisor didn’t even realize how unhealthy he looked until he started wandering between the villagers of Papuchia… but that was standard for most of the people living in Lorule, wasn’t it? “That being said, I can’t pack too much stuff. Train has space, sure, but it’s for clients and stuff I must carry around and…”

Ravio’s ears dropped just so slightly, he got so excited over fighting for a good price he completely forgot that the cabin where the engineer lived was incredibly small. 

“I could always go back and-”   
  
“It’s okay, Fruitcake, I’ll put what we can’t store in my home and the rest in the freight car. But… this world is safe, okay? I swear there’s plenty of food, no matter where you’ll stop, no need to hoard.”

Ravio blinked in confusion. Hoard? He barely ordered some extra supplies for safety. Did he go a little overboard with it? Perhaps, but that was non perishable food that could last years, according to what was written on the tins, how not to take advantage of that? Stil, if food was so easy to come by in New Hyrule...

“I’m not going to pretend I know what you went through but, buddy… but you can relax for now. Second… I knew I was being conned.”

The advisor’s jaw dropped just so slightly as the other offered an almost sheepish smile.

“What?”   
  
“It’s normal. I told you, I’m rich, and they know. I’m also really good at math and I’m aware they push up the prices when I am there but… it’s okay. I pay a little more but I get invited over for dinner or I get to spend the night somewhere.” A short pause followed. “I travel most of the time, it’s not bad to keep people friendly in the places I visit. Even if they consider me a bit dumb.”

That… was such an incredibly stupid way of wasting money, Ravio almost felt offended by it.

“You’re throwing away your money to make friends?”   
  
“Nah, I work well without them, I’m just… they’re happy, I’m happy as well. I told you: I have way too much money and it would really help no one if it just sat in my pockets, right? I occasionally buy a new piece for my train but that’s all. If you want to haggle, and I can tell you like it, go for it. But do it for yourself, not to pack for… I don’t even know.”   
  
Ravio took a deep breath “I do admit I… like to haggle. I used to be a merchant, you know? Now I’m… rusty at this kind of things. I used to be such a smooth talker, I could get anyone to buy my wares. Or rent them from me, too. I had the largest assortment of artifacts in the realm...”

And now it was all gone. Sometime he wondered if it had been a good idea giving everything to the hero of two worlds.

“Well, when one’s rusty you gotta train a bit to get back into it, right? Wanna try to sell me something? Oh, I really want to see you at full power, we have two scary merchants, here, Linebeck and Beedle… I’m kind of immune to special sales and stuff like that. ”

Engineer’s grin was contagious, the ex merchant found himself mirroring it, even if just slightly.

“What are you even expecting me to sell you, Mr.Hero? Everything around here is yours.”

“Oh, fair. Well, then make it your goal, find something to sell me- and don’t call me mister hero, I’m already… kind of weirded out by your kid calling me like that.”   
  
“Not my kid. And yes, huh… he did hear a fair amount of stories about ‘ _ Link _ ’. I never expected to… meet one.”

There was another long moment of silence, then Engineer sighed, rolling his eyes.

“I’m going to be honest with you, buddy. I did help save the kingdom, once.” Ravio’s ears perked up with interest. Did this Link already fulfill his destiny as chosen hero? But… what about the Triforce? “But that was more than a decade ago. I put my sword down and chose this life. It’s all honest work and it makes me happy, I’m just worried… you should tell your kid I’m no hero, you know? I worked with Zelda and Pon Pona-” his snake’s head appeared from under his coat “-to fix everything and it was a group effort. With lots of friends.”   
  
Ravio stood there in silence, not really sure on what to say. As far as he knew, the hero always worked alone, that was tradition, and Zelda guided him. Legends always described ‘ _ Links _ ’ as solitary heroes, accompanied by an animal or a spirit, not… team leaders.   
  
“I will have a talk with him as soon as he calms down, he is still too excited at the idea of being here.”   
  
“Fair. Let’s just make sure he doesn’t faint when he meets Zelda, okay? Now, let’s head inside, I bet Ocra is getting tired of waiting for us.”   
  
Right, the ex merchant jumped back on his feet and Engineer soon followed, grabbing all the bags and carrying everything toward the small cart where he lived. When they entered inside, Ravio’s heart melted a little as he saw the two kids run together and laugh. 

\- - -

Engineer didn’t lie when he said he was more than tired: his shower barely took ten minutes, then the man stepped back in the room with his hair still wet, threw a pillow and a blanket on the rug and just… collapsed there, without even eating dinner. That Link wasn’t kidding when he said he lived a pretty frugal life, was he? He barely bothered to dress himself with an old shirt and a pair of shorts before deciding it was night time.  
  


Ravio and the kid, who was still trying his new clothes, just exchanged a quick glance before silently agreeing to keep quiet as long as it was needed. 

“That explains why he only had one bed brought in instead of two.” commented the prince, buttoning up a sleeveless shirt.

“Indeed. It does explain why the bed is in pristine conditions, yet the rug has seen better days, my prince.” 

Was it his norm? Throwing himself on the ground? That man was so difficult to understand. Ravio sighed, massaging his temples: if he had the money the engineer seemed to have and if he was in a world full of non dangerous people and food, he would have retired as soon as possible. That man, instead, seemed more invested in the train than anything else. 

Him and the prince exchanged a small glance and a shrug. There was no point in thinking too much about that, as far as Ravio knew they were going to part in a few days and there was a single Link who deserved his undivided attention. The advisor reached forward, adjusting his son’s hair and offering him a small smile.

“But enough about him, your majesty…” he helped Little Link out of his clothes once more, this time passing him a long night gown. If Engineer was sleeping, perhaps it was better for them to do the same and wait until the next day to open the box of board games.

After preparing the kid, he retired for a moment in the bathroom to change himself as well, then he joined Little Link on the bed. 

“Tell me, my prince…” The cot could wait, he was going to move there as soon as his son was asleep. “How was your first play-date?”

Ravio didn’t notice when his eyelids became too heavy, nor when both him and the kid fell asleep side by side, but he knew the sun was already high in the sky when they woke up.

The train was already moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT CHAPTER? ZELDA TIME! And the proper start of this adventure!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still momentarily a slice of life and I'm being WAY too self indulgent with myself.

The two days after leaving Papuchia Village were two of the most pleasant days Ravio experienced in a long while. 

He had been mostly in the company of Little Link the whole time. Engineer occasionally stopped the train to get his food or take a short nap, but otherwise it was just him and his kid and the advisor treasured every single moment. 

They had games to play, the adult one got them chess, cards and some little board games, so all distractions they needed were there, and they had books to read, which actually helped fill a lot of holes in their knowledge. Ravio and the kid spent hours curled together on the bed as the advisor read the history of New Hyrule, how before discovering the continent the whole known world was merely a giant archipelago with settlements in some small islands and an economy based on fishing and foraging by sea. They found out the royal family only regained power in the past century, after disappearing for a long while, and that the reason Hylian moved mostly in the Ocean and Forest realms was not to force Anouki and Gorons out of their territories, colonizing only where it was already free.

It was nice to spend time in complete peace, just accompanied by the constant sounds of the train and the occasional whistles, not to mention the kid’s enthusiasm helped him forget any worry whenever he felt anxiety rising.

Yes, perhaps he only had limited time in the security of that place, Engineer wasn’t going to carry them around for much longer, and they had no guarantee Zelda was going to offer them any solution to fix Lorule or return home (and, he had to admit it, as much as he loved Hilda and his people he wasn’t sure he wanted to bring his son back if… well, if they had no hope to fix their homeland.).

“Look, uncle Ravi! The grass is so, SO green!”

“It certainly is, my prince.”

The landscape outside the window started to change as soon as they left the Ocean Realm, the endless water disappeared leaving room to giant prairies and forests. They even passed some settlements, but Engineer didn’t slow down for those.

“Do you think Lorule will become pretty like this place once Link and Zelda are done helping us?”   
  
“It’s important to always have hope, my prince.”   
  
“I want to show mom a place like this. Look, there are so many animals there!” 

The kid pointed outside, where some animals the advisor couldn’t recognize were peacefully grazing on a wonderful green carpet. Oh, if only Lorule had so much abundance… 

Ravio sighed, forehead hitting the glass as the kid ran back to get his crayons. Link had a growing pile of drawings he was making to show Hilda about the new world, and while the advisor doubted that much could be read in the splashes of color distributed on paper, it was a delight to see his kid so full of energies.

He was about to join his son on the rug and, perhaps, try to suggest him to restart some kind of learning regiment, when the train pulled in the occasional side tracks used by engineers to rest and started to slow down. The advisor checked outside but he couldn’t see much beside pastures and animals. Was it time for another, as Link called them, power nap?

Apparently not, because as soon as the train was completely still, Engineer opened the door and bounced in full of energies.

“Here we go, almost there!” the man cheered, raising both hands up and greeting them with the widest smile. Little Link replied with an energetic ‘wohoo’ and raised his arms as well, Ravio only crossed his trying not to worry too much about how that meant the short lived period of calm was about to end.

“I can’t wait to meet Zelda!” Link chirped, running toward Engineer and throwing his arms around the young man’s legs.

“Careful, Squirt, I’m covered in stuff and we want you presentable when you get to meet the queen, right?”   
  
“I can still take a shower before going, uncle!”   
  
Engineer chuckled, rolling his eyes and gently pushing the kid away.   
  
“Or I can take one before we exchange hugs. I gotta do it anyway, we’re near Castle Town and the station master already told me more than once not to stop there unless I’m clean.” A pause as the engineer took his coat off and placed his snake on the table. Ravio’s eyes grew wide when he realized the final part of Pon Pona was everything but normal, where the tail was supposed to end there was some kind of handle instead. Another unknown animal or… what? “They’re still angry because once I managed to sneak in a royal ball and I was leaving footprints everywhere. And I did ruin Zelda’s dress too, apparently. Silk and coal do not get along well but hey, she was having fun, isn’t that what truly matters?”   
  
Ravio blinked as the other walked toward the miniature bathroom, unbuckling belt and taking the top of his uniform off, remaining only in his undershirt. It was hard not to notice how the other was literally covered in sweat and, for the first time, his eyes fell on his left arm and how, right below the sleeve, he could spot a glimpse or what seemed to be a tattoo of sort. Oh, well, none of his businesses.   
  
“But you get her clothes dirt with grease once, twice, and people get mad. She was never mad, though. Not about that, at least.” the man placed both hands on his hips and sighed before heading back toward the miniature bathroom. “Can’t do much about that, I guess?”   
  
The advisor raised an eyebrow. He was starting to realize that Engineer talked a lot (Especially considering how the Link he met before was almost completely silent and occasionally used sign language to communicate.), often following his own train of thoughts and offering small details here and there, but this time…

“Wait… you and the princess… I thought you were in good terms.”

“Oh, we’re in great terms. It’s just… the rest of the nobles aren’t that fond of me and considering it’s mutual... I’m not visiting as I used to. It’s not a big deal, don’t worry.”

After saying that the engineer unceremoniously unbuckled his belt and tossed it on the table, stopping just right before taking his pants off, looking down at the kid and with a ‘later’, disappeared for his shower.

Ravio let out a sigh, ready to return his attention to the landscape outside, when the adult Link rushed out of his the bathroom with only his undershirt and his underwear on, heading for the chest. 

“I just realized- I see the kid always doodling stuff on my old blueprints and all-”   
  
“Well, yes? I want to show mom this world!”

Engineer pointed one finger in Link’s direction and grinned widely, then he forced Ravio to move in order to check under what was basically his very simple wardrobe. 

“Exactly. Now, I haven’t seen it in a while, but I got my grandpa’s pictobox…” the two Lorulean exchanged a confused glance, he got a what now? “It’s a device that can take pictures! You just… point it at something and bam, you have a miniature portrait of it. They’re kind of rare and the only person who uses them a lot is Ferrus, at least that I know about.”

The advisor raised an eyebrow. A… machine to capture pictures of something? Just… like that? New Hyrule was as crazy as it sounded from the history books Engineer decided to share, wasn’t it?

“Are you telling me I-"   
  
“I’d love to let you borrow it, yep! I just…” Engineer threw out of the chest a lot of clothes, most of them clearly used to the point of not return, and some items that had been packed inside other clothes. “Oh! That’s where my boomerang was! Neat!” the adult slipped the item in question over his coat and his snake was quick to grab it before placing it inside one of the pockets “Just… mmh… I need to find it. Haven’t seen it in a while. Good old Niko was never fond of stuff that reminded him of his bestie and I just…“

“So I can have it?”   
  
“As I said, yes. If I find it.” 

The Advisor frowned, suddenly realizing that most stuff had been tossed inside without any kind of organization. The kid was already bouncing behind the engineer, but after a long moment he seemed resigned to the fact that his… box was nowhere to be found.   
  
“I’m afraid I left it home.”   
  
The smile on Link’s face disappeared, leaving space to pure disappointment. Ravio’s whole body tensed up and he was ready to step in and try to find a way to console his prince, but the other man preceded it getting back up to his feet and clapping his hands.

“Well, no big deal! We’re going in the biggest city of the continent and I know a few shops that still sell those, I will get you one as souvenir. Plus, you get to choose your model!”

Crisis averted! The kid’s smile was back and he was literally beaming in the engineer’s direction. 

“Really?”

“Royal Engineer’s word! And it wouldn’t be nice to get your hopes up and then back off, right? Until then, kiddo, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep up the good work with pen and paper.” 

“I will! I will! I can’t wait to show mom everything!”    
  
“That’s the spirit! And you-” Engineer turned on his heels, now facing Ravio in all his half nakedness. The advisor was glad he got used to that fast enough, that Link didn’t seem to understand a lot about decency as Lorulean intended it. “You also get to choose something before, you know, I go.”   
  
Parting gifts, that’s what Link was offering and Ravio knew. While he had money for a while, still thanks to the other, he still had to plan something to make sure the kid didn’t go hungry as long as they were in that land. 

“I can’t say I need anything specific... unless you could help me set up a shop somewhere.”   
  
“Huh? And what would you like to sell?”   
  
“I still have no idea. But I guess that’s… something I will have to do.”   
  
While it was half a joke from Ravio, Engineer hummed, scratching his chin, apparently taking the suggestion in serious consideration. Wait, was that man for real? Fortunately enough for Ravio, the other man shrugged the thought off fast enough, ending the conversation with a ‘we will see’.

After that the child was still walking on clouds and Engineer was stuffing his container once more, with little care of the order things went in. He saw the other two exchange few other words, gently reminded the other adult that being half naked in front of a child wasn’t exactly the best thing and sighed once more when finally the other ran back to the bathroom. 

\- - -

“Wow, uncle Link, you look so cool!”   


Link was a name associated with tunics. baggy clothes and messy hair, at least in Ravio’s mind, so it felt… almost unnatural when Engineer finished to dress himself in what was apparently the uniform used by people like him around the palace. Long blue pants had a iron line right in the middle, the buttoned shirt was fitting to perfection and the elegant coat above wrapped him perfectly in his velvety perfection. 

While the style was certainly unusual by Ravio’s standards, the man could understand how a tie and a proper suit could change a man’s look and get him to look better but...

“I have it washed and ironed every time I leave castle town, then I place it away and only use then I come back, this is why it looks so great.”

As much as Engineer loved his job and the uniforms that came with it, the baggy one he used the whole time as they traveled and his large coat fit him much better. The advisor finished to button up his own coat, trying not to look at the other, nor comment how he lacked any grace in those clothes: the uncombed hair ruined the whole thing and his posture… it was just wrong. 

“What about me? Do I look handsome as well? I want to make a great impression on Zelda!”   
  
“Aw, Squirt, you look like a beach at sunset.”   
  
“Yey!”   
  
Ravio approached the kid, rolling his eyes and kneeling down to fix his little cravat. Link was royalty and, Hyrule or new Hyrule, he was going to present as the prince he was. They were all ready to cover the last trait of tracks they still had ahead of them before reaching Castle town, weren’t they? Considering Engineer was already hopping toward the door.... the answer was probably yes.

Part of him was glad there was finally some progress in their quest to… return home? Find help for Lorule? Ravio didn’t even know. The other half was dealing with more and more anxiety because the path never felt more uncertain. He bit his lips before speaking once more.

“So…” Engineer stopped right before leaving the car, turning toward ravio with a questioning look.   
  
“Yes?”

“Is there anything we should know or do before the hearing with Queen Zelda? And is there… are we sure she will find time for us?”   
  
It was hard to admit it, especially to himself, but he felt safe enough with things as they were and he wasn’t eager for them to change. They couldn’t rely on Link for too long, of course, but… ah, what happened to his adventurous self? Last time he left Lorule he didn’t feel like this.

Engineer only laughed. “Oh, buddy, don’t worry too much, she’ll receive us no problem!” and with that he slammed the door.

\- - -

“I can’t believe she’s not going to receive us!”

Engineer, Link and Ravio were all in front of the castle’s main gate and the guards just.... turned them away. Something about the queen having an important meeting with people coming from lands outside New Hyrule itself, Engineer just groaned something about Mogmas choosing the worst possible time to show up, but it was clear they had no access to the palace, at least for the day.

The advisor felt a little like an idiot, holding hands with his little prince in full formal attire while they had nowhere to go. That being said, he couldn’t ignore the little voice telling him ‘oh, good, another night of calm’ in his head, at least he managed to silence the one yelling ‘the guards are all dressed like the Link I knew!’ because he didn’t need to add even more confusion to this.    
  
Perhaps they could even visit Castle Town, all they got was a quick glance while walking in and Ravio had to admit he was charmed by how clean everything was, by the colorful flowers decorating all windows and by the lovely people laughing and chatting in the streets. Citizens of this place were properly dressed, too, which meant he could take Little Link around as well…

“Well, time for plan B.”   
  
His eyes widened as Engineer started walking toward the eastern garden without even waiting for them, Ravio quickly grabbed Link’s hand and hurried after him.

“Excuse me? Mr. Engineer?”   
  
“We’re going to enjoy the wonders of this place’s flowers and plants and stuff, my friend!” Ravio didn’t like the grin on the other’s face. “And… we’re going to sneak in the queen’s rooms.”   
  
Both Loruleans froze on the spot, exchanging a worried glance. Wait, so the plan was trespassing in the queen’s personal chambers? Ravio immediately moved to the other man’s side, the prince’s hands still carefully held.

“Excuse me, is this truly necessary? Couldn’t we wait until tomorrow?”   


Engineer’s hand reached for the advisor’s shoulder and the man immediately stepped away, putting a bit of distance between them. Big Link raised one eyebrow, shook his head, but fortunately enough avoided any question before smiling widely and opening his arms.

“Relax, it’s not the first time and I know the guards’ pattern perfectly. I had to sneak in so often, we’ll be there in a whistle!”

It… it still didn’t sound right. Ravio had little room to judge considering how he settled down in Mr.Hero’s house long, long ago, but one thing was invading a commoner’s place, the other was… invading a Queen’s privacy without being invited first.

“Oh, wow, we’re going to… to… adventure!” At least the kid seemed to appreciate the unusual approach.

“Indeed, Squirt.”   
  
“But, Uncle Link, why do you have to sneak in, I thought you two were friends.”   
  
“Oh, we are, but even then it can be problematic when you want to visit the queen at night,”

Silence. Both Engineer and Ravio’s ears dropped as Little Link perked up with interest. Oh, goodness, not only the advisor didn’t really want to know how deep the bond between that Link and Zelda was, but he especially didn’t want his kid to be exposed to any of that. Especially considering an illicit relationship between the ruling queen and her closest friend was exactly how Link came to be in the first place.   
  
Before he could formulate a good excuse to distract the young prince, Engineer snapped both fingers and offered the other a wide grin.

“Well, you know, superheroes gotta meet in secret and all, right?”

“Oooh, of course! Did you hear that, Uncle Ravi? We’re going to do superhero stuff!”

Ravio glared in the other man’s direction and the sheepish smile he received as reply was all he needed to see to have his confirmation: Link and Zelda had been -or still were- lovers. And the idiot almost spilled the beans in front of a seven years old.   
  
“I would be grateful if you could keep your superhero habits for yourself, Mr.Engineer.”    
  
“Will try, buddy, will try.” the other replied, raising his hands in the air in sign of surrender. “Anyway, follow me! Just pretend you’re looking at the plants for a while and we’ll be there in no time.”   
  
“Shouldn’t we return later? 

“Nah… It’s almost dinner time, if Zelda has guests she’ll be expected to attend some kind of royal banquet, she’ll have to change and we can meet her before it’s dark. I’d like to sleep in my bed, Fruitcake.”   
  
Ravio didn’t know if it was a discreet way to say ‘I can’t wait to get rid of you’ or simply a way the man wanted to express his desire to sleep on his rug once more. In the end the advisor found himself venting his frustration by addressing the less important thing in the conversation.   
  
“Could you please stop referring to me in that way? Why do you keep comparing me to a sad slab of dried fruits?”   
  
Of course, that was the best thing to raise his voice about. He sighed, covering his face with both hands, one of the prince’s hands reaching for his purple coat and wrapping tiny fingers around it. 

“My apologies, I’m…”   
  
“A bit nervous-” Engineer interrupted him, and Ravio was grateful of his talkative nature. “That’s okay, buddy, I’d be as well. But, and remind me of this conversation, both of you, we need to fix your fruitcake knowledge. Try not to get dirty while we climb up, however things go I’m taking you somewhere after this.”   
  
“Excuse me?”   
  
“Buddy, it’ll be a bit of cultural shock but our fruitcakes aren’t sad slobs and you have to try one. Just keep looking presentable because I’m going to introduce you to fruit paradise. And, again, there’s nothing wrong if you like fruity shampoo and stuff, makes it easy to remember a nickname.”

Ravio sighed, the other didn’t seem to get the issue in that, huh? And he knew he was an hypocrite for complaining, he did call the other Link ‘buddy’ and Mr.Hero himself, but he was a teen and things were different back in the days.   
  
“I’m not entirely sure if we will have the time to do so.”   
  
“Well, yeah? I mean, maybe Zelda will offer you a bed in the palace, who knows, but if we get a free evening… I’m not planning to leave for a few days, probably, if not today I’m taking you to the Moo Moo patisserie whenever we’ll get time. Now… play innocent, enjoy the flowers and pretend we’re having a nice little date.”

Before Ravio could make any comment, Little Link perked up and ran toward the Engineer with a smile painted on his face.    
  
“Yesss! A date with the hero! Teach me everything you know!”   
  
“About flowers? Oh, dear… I’m kinda limited here, kiddo. But I can show you the palace’s hives! Bees are very important, you know?” Oh, great, now the advisor was going to worry about his kid getting stung while under the other man’s care. “You know, bees are very important for agriculture, can’t have veggies if you don’t have them and other insects.”.

Ravio’s ears twitched. What? Considering Lorule had almost no bees left beside few stray hives… well, that maybe had something to do with their miserable harvests. He took a deep breath and followed the two as they walked together, Engineer’s never ending chatters continuing.   
  
“How so, uncle Link?”   
  
“Well, you need pollinators to make fruits grow. I’m no bee expert, but during spring and summer it’s not unusual for people to pay me to bring their bees around. They wait until night, when most of the hive is sleeping inside, close the little houses, and then put all the animals in my freight car. It’s fun because we’re not just helping farmers with their crops, we’re also chasing flowers to get different kinds of honey. Chestnut’s my favorite, by the way.”

The advisor frowned, spotting some colorful boxes not too distant from the castle and realizing that was their destination. Considering the art of beekeeping was one of the many things lost in his Kingdom… perhaps it was worth listening, at least as long as they kept a safe distance.   
  
“Wow, uncle Link, you do a lot of stuff, huh?”   
  
“Yeah, well… Engineer’s life. We aren’t just sitting on our trains all day. While I love doing that, huh… there are no actual roads in this kingdom, not as described in old novels at least. Villages and towns are quite distant too, so we engineers are literally keeping people connected.”   
  
“So you are…” the kid crossed his arms, looking pensive for a moment “A Link between people, right?”   
  
When both Little and Big Link started chuckling at that poor excuse of a joke, Ravio decided it was time to step between them.   
  
“Sir? You are a terrible influence.”   
  
“Lame jokes never killed anyone, Fruitcake. try to have some fun.”   
  
The advisor only rolled his eyes. He was going to have fun when he had more answers and with the prospect of invading the queen’s privacy… Ravio found it hard to relax.   
  
“Perhaps we should just see those bees of yours, Engineer, and then proceed toward our destination as soon as it’s time.”   
  
“Sure thing, buddy. Come on, let me offer you two more facts about our buzzing colonies.”   
  
The train driver started walking toward the hives once more and the other two decided to follow, after all they had nothing better to do.   
  
\- - -

Ravio’s heart was still pounding in his chest after him, Link and Little Link had to sneak in the Queen’s room: the three had to climb a ledge, time their movements with the walking patterns of the guards below and spring on the rooftop at regular intervals with the risk of being seen and arrested. At least it was getting dark, that limited their chances of getting caught.

The two Links were having the time of their lives humming their own theme songs, meanwhile Ravio almost had a heart attack when they had to step inside and play hide and seek with guards in the palace’s corridors. It was a relief when Engineer finally opened a large door and invited them inside.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” he whispered, walking toward the window and looking down. Oh, dear, that was everything but a viable escape route.   
  
“I know, isn’t this exciting?” was the kid’s immediate reaction as he started to explore the queen’s chamber. A big bed, a big desk, a fireplace with a couple of couches and a small table in front… it was surprisingly simple for a royal family.

Not even five minutes later, the doors opened once more.

“Zelda?”   
  
“Link! Oh, sweet Spirits above, how long has it been?”

Ravio placed both hands on his child’s shoulder, taking a step back toward the wall with him and almost wishing he still had his old bracelet to hide inside a wall in case of need. The queen didn’t even notice them as she rushed inside, throwing her arms around the engineer’s neck.

“Looking great as usual, Zelda.”

“And you still look like a sack of potatoes in that uniform. I love it.”   
  
“Glad I can still make you smile about it, bud. I still have some minor complaints about having to wear a tie, but it’s worth it.”   
  
“It’s because you still don’t know how to wear it properly and- Oh!”   
  
That’s when she noticed they weren’t alone. The queen’s eyes widened as she spotted Ravio and Little Link, and she immediately took a step back, adjusting her gown even if her dress was still in order. Ravio finally got to take a good look at Zelda and it was no surprise how similar she looked to both Hilda and the princess he met back in Hyrule, perhaps her hair were a bit lighter but that was the only true difference.    
  
“Huh… did you just teach some strangers how to enter my rooms?”   
  
“Yes. But in my defense: I had a very good reason to do so.”

“Link…” she frowned in his direction, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.   
  
“I’m just trying to help buddies in need! And listen, you’re a queen, right?”   
  
“Link…”   
  
“Well, that’s a prince!”   
  
Since the engineer was merely gesturing in Ravio and Little Link’s direction, without even bothering to turn around, the queen’s blue eyes landed on the advisor first. Not knowing what to say or do, he merely pointed at the kid in front of him. Her frown only deepened and her attention returned to Link.   
  
“So, I was delivering stuff, okay? I was already a bit late, fortunately enough wood doesn’t really suffer too much if I spend a little longer on the road, but I had to deal with pirates earlier and that meant cranking the engine to full speed-”   
  
“Get to the point, please.”   
  
“They come from another world, Zelda! They fell from the sky and me and Pona fished them out. There’s this other land named Lorule that’s kind of falling apart, from what I can understand, and I was like ‘oh, maybe she can help’ because now that the Lokomo returned to Heavens you’re the closest thing to a connection to the Spirit Realm that we have!”   
  
“... what?”   
  
The woman glanced in their direction and Ravio’s ears dropped as her blue eyes studied them. Little Link didn’t seem too intimidated, though, and he was quick to step forward and speak.   
  
“That’s true, princess! I mean, Queen Zelda! We come from Lorule because we need the help of two heroes like you and Link to save our land!” Ravio didn’t miss the glance the other two exchanged, nor the little shrug engineer offered her, why did he have the strong impression he ended up in the wrong Hyrule to search for a hero? “You’re going to help us save my mom, right?”   
  


The queen sighed, offered them a smile and stepped toward the little table, inviting them to sit down.    
  
“Well, any friend of Link is my friend. Make yourself at home, I will instruct a maid to bring you some tea. At the moment I have duties to attend, I will be back as soon as possible, after all I feel like we will have a lot we will have to discuss about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, we're hitting the plot next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part should really need a little 'slice of life' warning tag.

It took Zelda hours to be available for a talk, but that had to be expected: she had visitors from another land and, apparently, those were the first diplomatic contacts New Hyrule was having with a neighbour kingdom. 

Link didn’t seem to mind too much, just sitting with Engineer and listening to him talk about his hometown, another beach village called Adoba where, apparently, he had an actual house. 

Ravio? Ravio couldn’t stop walking back and forth in the room, his tea had been sitting on the small table for hours and was now cold and his feet were starting to hurt. It was night and not only he agreed to sneak in the queen’s rooms, there were at least three servants who saw them when they brought tea and food in.

It was good to know his kid didn’t skip a meal, him and Engineer were more than eager to tackle the free dinner, but the advisor’s stomach was absolutely closed. He straightened his back when the queen returned to her chambers and simply dismissed the guards that were following her.   
  
The advisor immediately bowed in her direction, he didn’t completely trust Link when he said Zelda could be as casual as he was and… he didn’t really want to upset the most influential woman of the new kingdom. “Your majesty…”   
  
She sighed, inviting him back to the tea table and… well, doing the same with Engineer by casually whistling in his direction. The man’s ears twitched and, like he was used to that, he jumped on the little couch with the kid on his lap, right next to Ravio.

Zelda placed herself right in front of the three and just… allowed the advisor to talk. Every time Engineer tried to step in the conversation, she hushed him, and allowed the other to continue without interruptions. It was almost refreshing to be able to explain himself freely, even if now and then Little Link tried to add few details here and there, or commented about how great his mom was (And who was Ravio to disagree?) or how they were finally going to fix everything.

In the end, after covering how they arrived there… silence fell. 

The queen was deep in thought, meanwhile Engineer’s leg was bouncing and constantly brushing against Ravio’s, but no one said a word. for what felt an eternity. Zelda placed both hands on her lap, leaning forward just a little and trying to offer a little smile.

“I know you came here with hope… but I’m afraid I will require some time to figure out what to do.”

Ravio’s ears dropped immediately, somehow he expected Zelda to know what to do- like her counterpart did back in the older Hyrule. Zelda was the queen of a successful Kingdom, she was Wisdom, she had to know…   
  
“But, while I only know the Triforce by name, stories my grandmother shared with me, I may have a little plan to bring you back. And, potentially, help your people, even if it will not be easy.”   
  
The advisor’s heart started pounding in his chest. So she did have something in mind, that was both exciting and absolutely terrifying! If it was for Lorule, for his queen and her people, the advisor was more than ready to step in and try to do whatever he was asked to, at the same time… he was no adventurer, no warrior and even if he had a Triforce piece, it barely did anything. Not to mention he needed to find Little Link a safe place to stay if he had to attempt anything dangerous. 

The advisor barely managed to swallow his rising anxiety and his fears before offering the queen a solemn nod. Ravio was glad he picked a tunic long and large enough to hide the slight tremor of his hands, exactly as he was relieved no one could hear how fast his heart was beating.

“Of course, your majesty. I will do anything-” for a second his voice cracked, but he did his best to mask it with a small cough “-that’s requested of me.”

Zelda's brow furrowed and she exchanged a quick glance with Link, Ravio only saw the engineer shrug with the corner of his eyes, but didn’t turn in his direction.

“Well, sir Ravio… prince Link… you should know this land had a direct connection with the spirits above. Seven Lokomo resided in this place and guided us…”   
  
Engineer tenser up at those words and the movements of his leg suddenly stopped. The queen’s smile suddenly felt a bit more forced than before.

“While our engineer was driving us around, around ten years ago, a Lokomo named Anjean offered me knowledge, probably knowing she would return to the Heavens soon after our task.” Zelda’s gaze lowered on her crossed hands and she paused for a moment “We were battling a strong Demon, traveling on the only train the Spirit left us to find it. She did mention…” She took a deep breath, turning fully in Engineer’s direction and almost glaring at him “A way to possibly upgrade it. To travel… elsewhere.”   
  
Silence. Ravio did feel the other man shift beside him and Little Link was forced to jump down as Engineer jumped back on his feet. The man was beaming in the queen’s direction, he had both hands pressed against his cheeks and the advisor could only frown as he noticed his expression: Engineer looked like a kid who had just been offered a delicious apple pie and possibly a new sword.   
  
“Whaaaa-”

“Link, I swear to Tetra, if you start yelling-”   
  
He slapped both hands on his lips, bounced on the spot a few times, then repeated ‘what’ again, just whispering in her direction.   
  
“Sit down. It’s all hypothetical and I will not have you jump around like a child as I’m talking.”   
  
“Train upgrade-” he only added, now quickly clapping his hands and walking on the spot. “It’s like my nameday, Discovery Day and Heartwarming all came at once. Three times in the same year, if that makes sense! ”   
  
“Sit.”   
  
She actually pointed a finger in his direction, then the couch and the other immediately obeyed, pretending to zip his mouth closed but starting the leg bounce dance one more, this time clearly just trying to contain his excitement. Looking at how Zelda seemed resigned to his reaction… that wasn’t an isolated case. At least Little Link was beaming as well, Engineer’s energy was apparently contagious if you were a kid.   


Zelda sighed before continuing.

“One of the few sources of actual magic in our world comes in the form of music, we restored train tracks with duets and defeated Malladus in the same way, but I know for a fact our friend here didn’t master all songs.”   
  
“Wait does that mean you knew about the possibility of upgrading my girl and you never-”   
  
“Link? Later. But yes. I need a day or two to search the library and consult some of the scholars before I can give you all a definitive answer. I will be honest, I am not certain this will lead anywhere but it’s a possibility. Now, in the meanwhile, you’re more than welcome to stay in the castle, I already had rooms prepared for you and the child, consider yourself royal guests. After all, it will not be as comfortable when you’ll go back to traveling.”

Before Ravio could say anything, the prospect of adventuring was still rather unsettling even if he knew someone had to do what had to be done, Engineer was once more on his feet.

“Hey, come on, my baby is super comfy!”   
  
“By your standards, Link. And we both know you have the ability to sleep literally anywhere.”   
  
“Details! And I already got them a cot, if we’re going to spend a few days here I can organize my cart better to have guests! You know I prefer to sleep in the passenger carts anyway, closer to the cannon.”   
  
“Wait…” The advisor raised one hand, interrupting the two and hesitating for a moment “We’re… pardon me, your majesty, are we supposed to keep traveling with Mr.Engineer?”   
  
“Afraid so, Sir Ravio. If we’re planning to upgrade the Train to allow travel between worlds… well, the Train will be a necessary piece for that. And while I don’t doubt my friend would be more than happy to leave both his sword and his flute behind, taking him away from his beloved would be a challenge.”   
  
"Yeah…” Big Link laughed, nervously, “If you want to do anything with my Train, I come with it. Sorry? I’m kinda jealous of my woman.”   
  
The Lorulean barely registered how his child reacted with enthusiasm at the news, nor paid attention as the two Links started bouncing around chanting ‘train upgrade’ together. If he accepted whatever task Queen Zelda had for him, he was most likely going to be stuck on the metallic snake with his son and that eccentric conductor that did an excellent job in giving him headaches.

He felt relieved.

He couldn’t elaborate why, not even in his own mind, but knowing the first safe space he had known in literal years wasn’t going to disappear overnight… that made him feel better. The Link he knew was a hero, so perhaps this eccentric counterpart could also help keeping the kid safe, and he had both food and shelter. It wasn’t like reuniting with a man he trusted and respected, of course not, but it still was better than nothing.

Somehow being swept up in the chaos was a familiar comfort.   
  
“You okay?”   
  
The advisor almost jumped on his seat when Engineer spoke in his direction, he didn’t even realize he was staring.

“Huh… yes, I apologize, but-”   
  
“Come on, buddy, I get it. Not everyone likes to spend a lot of time with me, I get overly chatty, but that’s okay, you and your kid will have your personal space.” 

The ‘not my kid’ reply lingered on Ravio’s lips, but he bit his tongue deciding not to address that issue for now, not while there were more pressing matters to discuss about. The advisor adjusted his own gloves, swallowing before replying.   
  
“I… well, Mr.Engineer, I have nothing against prolonging our stay on your Train if that’s... My Kingdom and my people come before anything else and I will be… I will do whatever is needed.” Still, a voice in the back of his head was reminding him to be cautious, that things seemed too easy and nice to be true. So far New Hyrule had been too good to him and that kind of things never lasted. He fidgeted on the hem of his sleeve. “If carrying us is not a problem for you.”

“Are you kidding me? Ah! I may be able to make my baby even better, I’m the one who should thank you for this opportunity! I could kiss you!”   
  
“Please, don’t.” was Ravio’s immediate, deadpan reply, as Engineer opened his arms, almost inviting him for a hug. 

“Well that’s decided, then.” the queen commented, stepping between the two. “It’s rather late so I invite you all to retire to your rooms for the night. Link, do you mind escorting the young prince to the Seabreeze Room? I’d like to exchange a couple of final words with our other guest.”

“That’s fine, I have to plan tomorrow’s day anyway. Gotta take them to the Moo Moo patisserie, you know? They never had proper fruitcake. And Gizmo’s shop, to check on cameras. Oh, and I should probably write to Linebeck, if they’re going to stay… I bet Rei can deliver my letter of commission in a day or two, I should check the postal office at some point. They can go to the market in the meanwhile and-”   
  
“Link? Bed.”   
  
Engineer frowned just for a second, then offered a shrug before holding up the kid and walking outside, still chatting with Little Link about how amazing his train was going to be. Zelda only sighed, taking a step in Ravio’s direction and reaching for his shoulder with one of her hands.

“I apologize for not being able to offer an immediate solution, sir, I will get my researchers at work as soon as possible.”   
  
“Oh, no no… I appreciate any help, my lady, you and Mr.Engineer are already doing so much for us. If anything can be done for Lorule… I cannot even start to express my gratitude.”   
  
“It’s… I’m the queen of New Hyrule, a kingdom built by people who knew what it was like wishing for a better place to live in and wanting to give their child a better chance at life. Our old land was nothing but sea and scattered islands, people hug the few rocks that reached the surface and build their cities there, often spending their entire lives without seeing anything beside their little surroundings. Refusing to help a fellow kingdom in need would be like spitting on my grandmother’s grave.” 

The queen stepped away, walking toward the window and moving the curtains just enough to look outside. It was already night time, the moon was shining in all its beauty, yet the advisor hardly felt the need to admire it by himself.   
  
“We will do what we can to help Lorule, Sir Ravio.”

“Thank you, queen Zelda.”   
  
“One more thing before you go.”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
She turned in his direction, passing delicate fingers between the long, blonde locks and offering a slightly apologetic smile.

“I need you to remember I’m not guaranteeing anything. Our common friend may already act like it’s just a matter of time before his ride in your kingdom, yet I cannot tell for sure we have the required knowledge to do what will be required to power up the Spirit Train, nor I am certain it will have the magic needed to do more than teleport between parts of this world.”

He lowered his gaze, crossing his arms and nodding in the queen’s direction. 

“I understand, your majesty.”   
  
“Whatever happens, know you and your prince will have a place here.”   
  
“Thank you, my queen.”   
  
\- - -

Despite being one of the wealthiest men in his kingdom and having access to one of the most comfortable beds in Lorule, Ravio couldn’t even compare his old room to the one he had been assigned in the Castle. 

Him and the kid, who had been convinced to spend the night there instead of in his own bed with minimal effort, woke up late in the morning, curled on the largest and most comfortable mattress the advisor had ever slept on. He rolled over a couple of times, daring to squeeze the kid’s hand in his sleep, and taking all the time they needed once awake to get dressed and ready.

A lovely breakfast was brought in for them and the advisor took great pleasure in enjoying tea, now with the certainty that no matter what, Train or not, Little Link had a safe space where to fall back, either thanks to Engineer’s kindness or the Queen’s generosity. 

A knock at the door caught his attention and, after adjusting his cravat, Ravio was quick to open it, expecting to find someone from the royal court requesting his presence. He found Engineer instead, still wrapped in the same clothes from the day before.   
  
“So?”   
  
The advisor blinked, before repeating the question.   
  
“...so?”   
  
“Are you guys ready?”   
  
Before Ravio could question what he was supposed to be ready for, a purple shadow sprinted near him and jumped between Big Link’s arms, squealing in joy. He had to stop himself from slapping his own face as the the older man started spinning a laughing child around.   
  
“Mr. Engineer, could you please not-”   
  
“Oh, right, your uncle!” Link immediately dropped the kid, turning once more in Ravio’s direction. The advisor felt his own eyebrow twitch. “So, I got in contact with the patisserie already, they’re saving us a table for lunch and I already ordered some nice stuff, you can trust me when it comes to fancy food. Before that, though? I need to visit the postal office to de- wait.” 

He stopped to pat his pockets, took a letter in a red envelope out of one of them, checked it like he had to make sure it was the right one and put it back where it was. Ravio had no words to comment any of that, he was somehow resigned to the constant flow of words whenever Engineer was around and how… well, how he seemed prone to forget things. In moments like that he truly missed his old Mr.Hero.

“Yeah, I got it. As I was saying, I will need to stop to the postal office to ask a friend to do a special delivery for me, I want to commission a special thing for my train but if I don’t send the request now… I know Linebeck, it’ll not be ready by the time we pass at the Trading Post. Oh, but you can just explore the market in the meanwhile, it’s no big deal and-”   
  
The man spinned on his heels once more, kneeling down and picking the prince up between his arms “Once we’re done? We can go pick your pictobox, so you can take all the little portraits you want for your mom.”   
  
With that the Engineer just turned, giving Ravio his back, and started walking away. The Lorulean man sighed, slapping a hand against his face and shaking his head, he knew the other wasn't trying to upset him on purpose but dealing with him could be… a bit stressful.

He could only grab his satchel and pray the queen had been informed they were leaving before hurrying after the other two.

\- - -

In the end? Engineer decided to head to the Gizmo shop first, escorting Ravio and the kid to an weird antiques shop full of stuff the advisor couldn’t even recognize. As the two Links explored the town and the old man behind the counter started showing the kid various models of… well, wooden boxes with lenses? They barely got Ravio’s attention in front of the pile of treasures the filled the shelves.

Not a single item in the shop was even remotely  _ useful _ , unlike the things Ravio used to sell, yet they went for thousands of rupees each. A pearl collar from the  _ era of the sea _ ? Five thousand rupees because it apparently belonged to the ‘queen lost to the sea’. A slightly cracked mirror shield? Six thousands because, apparently, it belonged to the Hero of the Winds and it helped him  _ bring light in the darkest place _ .

Ravio didn’t like that place.

Even though he was a merchant who loved to scam his unsuspecting clients… he didn’t like to be the customer, especially not in New Hyrule where certain shopkeepers had prices beyond reason. A Leaf? Seven thousand rupees? Because it was apparently from some mysterious forest in the sea? 

“Mr.Engineer, are you sure…” he approached the other man, leaning relatively close to his head but avoiding any direct contact. “That this is the best shop for this?” He added, whispering in his direction.   
  
“Mh?” Engineer’s ears twitched, he glanced down at the kid who kept checking different models even if his heart seemed set on an ancient purple one with delicate golden decorations, then he smiled at Ravio. “It’s the best place where we can get functional ones, yes. Could ask Beedle, he’d always carrying unique stuff, but it’s… not that easy to find him.”   
  
Ravio could feel the vendor looking at him, so he gave him his back and asked Engineer to turn as well.   
  
“Yes, but… the merchant here seems rather… unfair with his prices.”

Link rolled his eyes, placing one hand against the advisor’s shoulder and forcing him to step away from the vendor and the kid. Ravio saw him lick his lips, his expression a mix of annoyance and pity, then Engineer pulled him closer while passing his arm around his shoulders.

The Lorulean didn’t like that.

“Buddy… I get that’, you’re worried and that’s okay. But pictoboxes? Those are rare, I lied up there, this is the only place where you can find some unless you can somehow track Beedle and… yeah, that’s it. Only shop in Kingdom that still sells stuff that’s been lost. I’ve been trying to recreate it at some point, even tried to make better models, still nothing. I can’t do the magic thing for infinite paper. Maybe having one around with your kid using it will give me the motivation needed.”   
  
“Not my kid.”   
  
Link closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh of frustration.    
  
“Buddy, I have eyes and I can see.”   
  
“Just because we’re very similar in appearance it doesn’t mean much, I could be related to his mother.”   
  
“Buddy, no… it’s not the way he looks, it’s the way you look at him.” 

The advisor blinked, suddenly unsure on how to reply to that. Engineer didn’t give him time to think too much about it, though, because he reached for his other shoulder and pet it with his still gloved hand.

“Listen. You come from a world full of problems, right? Let him take something nice. I don’t mind, I have money, and you are literally offering me a chance to make my train better.”   
  
“Lady Zelda said she wasn’t sure if-”

“If she mentioned it, it’s because she already got a lead, no matter what she says.” He stated as a matter of fact. “Just… take what I offer and enjoy it, you’ll eventually start to make money on your own. I don’t plan to be anyone’s sugar daddy, especially not yours, I’m just a very happy engineer.”

“With all the respect, I don’t think-”   
  
Ravio was just starting to raise his hands between the two to push Engineer away when the kid called for them. Link’s ears twitched and he turned in Little Link’s direction, a large smile bloomed on his lips and he forcefully turned the advisor around after telling him to smile. 

A flash of light followed and Ravio found himself staring at his son and a little piece of paper that was being slowly ‘vomited’ by the purple machine between his hands. Ravio’s eyebrows shot up, what just happened?

“Well, looks like your child used my product. Now you will have to take it.” The vendor chuckled, rubbing his hands together, and Engineer only replied with a belly laughter before inviting the Lorulean to step outside. 

“I got it, guys, don’t worry.”   


The advisor frowned, trying to look down at the price tags on the table, but the other stepped in between, hushing him away. Between the kid pulling him away and trying to show him the tiny portrait and Engineer pointing at the door, he finally accepted defeat and stepped outside. He didn’t like to see money wasted, he liked to make money, but if the other was dead set in throwing it away… his loss. And Little Link’s personal victory.

The two spent at least ten minutes outside, as the kid kept taking pictures of everything and a little pile of paper slowly forming at their side, as the advisor stared at the figure of a very confused himself and a beaming Engineer on the first picture the prince ever got.

\- - -

Engineer was right, the fruitcakes of New Hyrule were nothing like he imagined. 

He expected a brick of flour and other dry fruits, poorly mixed with sugar in an explosion of disappointment and sadness, he was sitting in front of a heavenly vision instead.

“Wow....” 

Not only Engineer brought them to a little, colorful building covered in flowers that seemed to come from a fairy tales book, he also ordered them a giant cake and… the advisor had no words to describe the slice that was now shining on a little ceramic plate in front of him.

The pleasant smell of flower, the background chatter of happy people, the music that came from a little band outside… if all faded in front of the magnificent cream filled sponge cake he had been served. The cake itself was soft and moist, it caressed Ravio’s tongue at every bite, but that was just the beginning: the center of the cake had been filled with fresh custard, everything then had been topped with a layer of juicy, colorful fruits distributed in elegant patterns.

“I know, right? Not the fanciest place in town but, in my book, the best place where to get your blood sugar levels up.”

The advisor didn’t bother to reply, the blissful experience in his mouth was even silencing the constant talks of the other man. Oh, the fruits were so bright and tasty, the whipped cream that topped them in a few corners only enhanced their flavor instead of covering it…

“See? Those aren’t bad. I don’t know how you make them in Lorule, but you have to get the recipe from our old Cepia.”

Ravio pushed Link’s words aside once more and the engineer decided to start chatting with the kid instead, the prince seemed equally interested in the cake after all. The Lorulean man licked his lips, cleaning the skin around his mouth with the tip of his fingers and licking them, before bringing another spoonful of cake.

Oh, how he was loving that velvety delicacy, not to mention-

“Cheese!”

Another flash of light surprised the advisor as he was sucking cream off his thumb, he blinked in the prince’s direction before realizing Little Link just decided to immortalize the moment. Engineer was just chuckling.

Ravio’s immediate reaction was to pout, grab the napkin and pass it on his lips, that only seemed to amuse the child even more and… that wasn’t necessarily bad.  They apparently still had a couple of days of peace ahead, only the Goddesses knew where Zelda was eventually going to send them after her research was done, and… well, he wasn't against wasting time in that place if that translated in getting to see more and more of the prince's smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in the next chapter? Zelda finally *has a plan*.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for almost disappearing. It's been a rough time for me and I spent almost a week creating... nothing. But now I am back. This week I should be able to update the Zora!Link fic and my war!Au fanfictions as well. Thank you for bearing with me, everyone.

While Ravio was new to the current Hyrule, he still had plenty to do in the city as days passed: him and Engineer adjusted the living cart to have two actual bed, even if that translated in sacrificing space for the kid to play around and leaving the desk behind (Not a big deal, according to the train’s conductor, he wasn’t going to have a lot of time to work on new projects anyway.) and he found himself taking Little Link to every single playground in Castle Town or, if Engineer could babysit, exploring the markets to take note of what was being sold.

It was somehow strange how insular the shops felt: Papuchia village and Castle Town were relatively close, at least according to the map, yet the beach city’s goods were sold as exotic merchandise and the capital had its own stuff that, as far as the advisor knew, was unique to the town itself. 

Ravio also found himself fascinated by an arena of sort where people could challenge themselves in a game the owner called “Take 'Em All On”. The world of New Hyrule felt almost devoid of magic and religion, yet the woman that ran that game, Joynas, seemed able to channel little pocket worlds of her own.

And apparently Engineer was the only person who completed all three challenges of the tower. When he was  _ eleven years old _ . If anything, that filled Ravio with some extra confidence, even if the conductor stated more than once that he didn’t like to fight, he had to have the strength to do so in himself, right? 

“I want to challenge the tower too!”   
  
The woman laughed, amused by the prince’s enthusiasm, and shook her head.    
  
“Sorry, young man, I cannot let you in without a sword and a shield.”   
  
Ravio sighed in relief and stepped out, both hearing Little Link plan to get himself a weapon to fight monsters with and praises over praises about how strong Uncle Link had to be. While the advisor was strongly against the idea of letting his son try any weapon, he still listened to the kid’s rambles and nodded now and then, studying the various shop windows with interest. Lots of Cuccoo themed items, very little fish, too many train themed items for comfort

One of the items that got his interest, though, was in front of one of the bookstores. Between the various books about pirate history and engineering, a cooking book was shining with its own light. 

“Dump… cakes?”   
  
Little Link trotted at his side, little hands grasping the oversize robe the advisor decided to wear. So in that world… people could just dump canned fruits, drinks and powder for cakes and it would magically turn into a proper one? That was too good to be true, then again New Hyrule proved itself to be… unique.

He reached with his hand for the little satchel where he still carried the money Engineer gave him, the rupees were still untouched. Ravio frowned, looked down at the kid and wondered if the little oven on the train was going to be enough to attempt any of that, after all if they were going to spend a long time just sitting in that cabin, perhaps he could try to bake something with Little Link.

A smile crawled on his face, he never expected he’d get to do things that were considered ‘normal’ with his kid, yet there he was. 

“Wouldn’t it be nice to try to cook something together, my prince?”   
  
Little Link beamed at the suggestion and Ravio’s heart felt even lighter at the sight.

“Yes! I want to cook a lot of delicious things! Now for you and uncle Link, then I will make them for mama!”   
  
The advisor nodded gently in the kid’s direction, offering him his hand and opening the bookstore’s door. It was finally time to do some actual shopping.

\- - -

Being relatively sure the Engineer had no cooking trays in his kitchen, Ravio purchased one as well after paying for the book, then he and the kid proceeded to find a shop that sold powdered cakes (The shopkeeper called them ‘ready to bake’), butter and bottled drinks. 

A few toys for the prince ended up added to the mix. When Ravio started heading back to the train, his wallet was almost one hundred rupees lighter. While he didn’t like that too much, seeing Little Link play with a wooden sword and hop around pretending to be a hero… it made every expense worth it. They already had to limit the number of pictures he could take during the day, the young prince wasn’t stopping to use his pictobox for literally everything, so it was nice to have another distraction of sorts. 

“I can’t wait to show uncle Link my new weapons!” 

“I’m certain he’ll be delighted, my prince.”   
  
As they arrived at the station, though, Ravio immediately noticed the Engineer wasn’t alone. He was sitting on the roof of his engine with a lady with red hair and a red uniform, the same he saw used by a lot of postmen when Link shipped his letters and… and the man looked genuinely worried as she kept talking.

The advisor frowned, grip tightening around the handles of the bags he was carrying. Was… something wrong? He had not seen a single serious expression on the conductor’s face since they met and now… oh, perhaps it was for unrelated problems, Ravio couldn’t keep expecting the worst.

Instead, he opted to call for the other and let him know they were back.

“Greetings, Engineer, are we interrupting anything?”

The expression on the man’s face immediately changed and he raised both arms, smiling widely and hopping off the train like that was just a little, not dangerous jump.

“Absolutely not, buddy! I was just spending time with my friend Rei-” The woman jumped down as well. Her skin was tanned like Engineer’s and she also had freckles on her face and shoulders, but her hair was long and red like fire. “She’s a postwoman and she just came back from the Trading Post with some interesting news. Linebeck agreed to help me with my little project, should be ready in a week.” Engineer winked in the advisor’s direction. “You’ll love it.”   
  
“Huh… I’m sure I will.” He replied, skeptical. So far most of Engineer’s ideas had been questionable, even if Ravio appreciated the help, he couldn’t deny how chaotic the man could be.

“E-yup!” The girl stepped in, grinning as widely as the conductor. “I was just having some fun with my old buddy, here. We come from the same village, you know? For your info: he’s always been an egghead, but at least he means well.”

“And we are-” Engineer leaned against her, she immediately passed her arm around his.

“-the two great travelers of Aboda!” Rei added, completing his sentence. 

In short, another eccentric person. 

“And I am here to let you guys also know Queen Zelda requested your presence.” she clapped her hands, hopping on one of her feet. “So you’re invited to hurry up and get to the castle as soon as you can!”

Ravio’s ears twitched. Was it finally time to move on with their journey? Did she find anything relevant? Now he couldn’t wait to visit her. Judging by how the prince started to bounce and jump, he was equally excited to hear what the queen had found.

“That’s grea-”   
  
“That being said-” she interrupted him, leaning more against the Engineer. “When I asked you if you finally decided to drop your ‘I don’t date people with kids’ rule, you didn’t tell me this dude was a cutie. Hello, sweetie.”   
  
Engineer rolled his eyes, nudging in her direction. Ravio didn’t feel amused by her comment, nor her compliment.   
  


“First, not dating. I’m above that scam that is romance. Second, you have a job to do, right?”   
  
“Right. See you soon, babe-” she placed a kiss against his cheek. “I’m going to deliver this to Alfonzo as soon as I can. Just remember to use a proper mailbox, next time!” the postwoman added, waving a letter before hopping away.

Engineer scratched the back of his head, humming, and immediately brought his attention to the little one, smiling widely once more.

“Wellwellwell- aren’t you excited? We’re going to see what the queen has for us! She told me to bring the Spirit Flute so it has to be big.”   
  
“I am super excited, uncle Link! We’re going to live a true adventure!”   
  
“ADVENTURE!” The man raised both arms once more, yelling with the kid at full volume. Ravio took a step back, ears darting down with annoyance. “But before we go- someone has to clean himself and get ready, right? Go put on the nice set of clothes of last time, hop hop!”

The kid rushed inside, still screaming with enthusiasm, but before the advisor could take a step inside, the other put an arm in front of him.

“A word, please.”

Ravio didn’t really like the sudden shift from cheerful to serious. While a more serious approach seemed natural for the Link he knew and respected, it felt out of place on this Link. He placed both bags on the floor, massaging his wrists and giving the Engineer his full attention.

“Of course…”   
  
“I… I am not entirely sure this is somehow related to you and the kid, mind you, but… postmen travel a lot, okay? If you want to get news fast, they’re the better source of info a person can have. And there are rumors from the North.”   
  
The Engineer pointed in the direction of one of the station’s benches and, even if the advisor still had to put his stuff away, both him and Big Link still had to change, there was no hurry. They could take a moment to talk as long as the prince was busy.   
  
“They speak of a warrior that came out of nowhere, she raided the Anouki’s village for supplies and, even if she no one got seriously hurt, she… the postman working there says she spoke no word after asking ‘where is the child?’, nor she avoided trying to hit the local residents.”   
  
“... and?”   
  
“And from the description, she does seem very similar to the one kiddo called Nofiel. Big golden sword, big armor with purple and golden decorations, long green hair…”   
  
The advisor bit his lips, that description matched the woman he knew. Considering she was holding the little boy, it wasn’t too hard to believe she had been dragged as well. Was Hilda also there, perhaps? She was near the guards when the light engulfed the whole room…

“You said she asked for the kid?”   


“That’s what Rei reported. We can’t know if that’s your knight, nor if she’s looking for the little prince, but at the same time… not knowing what she wants… I don’t know. Do you want to search for her? Or would you rather avoid her? She took a map of the kingdom and started walking South, that’s the first and last sighting.”

Going South was… quite generic. And considering the dimensions of the kingdom itself…

“I don’t know if avoiding her would be the right idea, that being said we don’t know where this knight is. Honestly, Mr. Engineer? I think we should proceed on our path and follow whatever direction the queen will give us. I can’t say I’m glad to hear that one of my friends…” could he even still call Nofiel like that? He certainly hoped so. “Stole from other people, but if she was lost as me and the kid were… I cannot completely blame her. Perhaps we should wait for more sightings or to accidentally meet her? If she’s looking for us, she’ll eventually find out we’re traveling together.”   
  
“So the option is  _ neither _ , huh? We just… keep going and if we meet her we see what to do?”   
  
“That’d be for the best, yes. I’d like to see another Lorulean, especially one I knew well, but at the same time we have to prioritize our mission.”   
  
“Alright.” Engineer got back up, patting his gloves on the uniform to get rid of some dust. “I still sent my mentor a letter. He’s a retired knight, but he’s really good with the sword and he’s been training his kid and some children of the village so… he should be less rusty than me. Hopefully he’ll accept to come with us.” A pause. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s like me, he’s going to sleep on a rug in the passenger cart. You know, it’s just…”   
  
“A bit of extra precaution.”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“I appreciate that, Sir Engineer.” Ravio stood up as well, walking to his bags and shaking his head, still trying to figure out how he felt about this new information. If that woman was Nofiel, then was it safe to approach her? Was she looking for the prince to make sure he was still safe? Was she driven by something else? 

Stealing from people didn’t sound like her, even if from what Ravio saw in books, the Anouki couldn’t really pass for Hylians and perhaps she assumed they were monsters.

“I…” he started, licking his lips and looking at the train’s chimney. “I will go change my clothes. Hopefully there will be no further complications.”   
  
\- - - 

The Queen received them privately, dismissing most of the scholars in the library and deciding to speak eye to eye with them. The entire group was sitting at a large table, a map of New Hyrule had been placed between them and they all gathered to discuss their next step.

Engineer’s leg was bouncier than ever, Ravio sadly noticed while taking place at his side.   
  
“Sooooo? Tell us all, Zelda!”   
  
The advisor had to resist the temptation to ask the conductor to sit properly without laying against the table full weight, it was improper in front of a queen and it wasn’t an appropriate behavior to display in front of the prince, but, since the woman didn’t even blink in his direction, Ravio let it drop.

“When we explored New Hyrule we mainly moved on the surface, right? That’s because what we needed was to restore the tracks that connected the inhabited parts of our Kingdom. Yes, like the underwater temple, the train isn’t limited to running on normal grounds: when the spirits made it, it was supposed to travel both underground-”   
  
“Well, my girl can go in tunnels and stuff.”   
  
She didn’t even pay attention to his comment, proceeding like no one spoke.

“And in the sky.”   


Suddenly she had the Engineer's undivided attention.

“And not only that: the Spirit Train was made with the intent of creating a machine able to reach… everywhere. At its final stage, it should be able to travel without tracks. How? I am not entirely sure, but if you’re planning to attempt this mission… you will have to travel a lot.”   
  
The queen reached for the table, her gloved hands holding a few little flags that she placed in areas where no tracks could be seen. 

“There are a few extra temples you still haven’t visited, four songs that will not only create new tracks for your trains, but give it new… perks.”   
  
“We’re upgrading my girl…”   
  
A sigh escaped her lips.

“Yes, we are. Now, the first thing I want you to keep in mind is: we can’t rush this. Your first stop will be in the Ocean Realm, the first set of tracks will appear there and grant your train the ability to travel for days in caves-”   
  
“It’s never been a pro-”   
  
“It’s never been a problem because tunnels take, what? Ten minutes? Fifteen? You burn coal to proceed, Link, if you’re trapped in a tunnel for days, and that’s what we will need to take in account, you need to be able to travel without emitting smoke. Unless you somehow found a way to breathe in it.”   
  
“Oh… wait, days?”   
  
“The rest of the temples is underground, I can tell you where the entrances are, but you’ll need to build your path before proceeding further. It’s…. going to take a while.”   
  
The Engineer smiled widely, waving his hand in the air and trying to dismiss her worries. Ravio bit his lips, wondering how long that would take, the little flags were all in different corners of the map.

“I got this. And I will take care of them, promise. I’m just… that train is my life, Zelda, if I can do anything for it, I’ll be happy to. Plus, I get to help people, that’s a good feeling as well.” 

The advisor could at least appreciate the effort and the desire to help. Engineer’s attitude and general behavior was headaches inducing but… he meant well, right? He glanced in the prince’s direction, Little Link was so ready to go, Ravio could tell the kid could barely sit still in silence.

“Sooo… you asked me to bring the flute because…?”   
  
“Because we’re about to retire and play a duet, my friend.”   
  
“Aw yes!”   
  
At those words Little Link stood up on his chair, a pout painted on his face.    
  
“What? No! I want to see it too!”   
  
“My prince, please-”   
  
“We’re part of the adventure, right? Can’t we learn the music too? Pleeeeeease…” the kid whined, leaning up on the table and, without any decency, crawling toward the queen. 

“Prince Link!” Ravio stood up as well, stepping in the kid’s direction and trying to place both hands on his shoulders to force him to sit. Good Gods, never telling him ‘no’ at home wasn’t really paying off right now, was it?   
  
At least Zelda replied with a chuckle and shaking her head.   
  
“Worry not, Sir Ravio, I take no offense in the enthusiasm of a child. We don’t usually allow guests in the inner rooms of the palace, but since you’ll be working with Link for a while… I suppose I can make an exception.”   
  
“Aw, YES!” was the prince’s reaction, mimicking the engineer’s early exclamation. Ravio sighed, deep inside.   
  
“Please, do follow me.”   
  
They all got up, ready to walk after the queen, but the engineer suddenly seemed to remember something. He pet his pockets, looking for something, and hopped at her side.   
  
“Before we go… do you think you can find me more info about this?”   
  
The woman raised an eyebrow, taking the picture Link was now offering her. The back of the paper was different from the ones made by Little Link’s pictobox and the Engineer made sure to keep the front for Zelda’s eyes only.    
  
“... who is-”   
  
“One of my flings. Things got complicated, I’m looking for… anything you can tell me about her.”   
  
“Really? I will see what I can do.”   
  
“Thank you so much, Zelda.” 

She glanced in his direction once more, clearly uncomfortable, but in the end she pocketed the picture and walked toward the door, inviting everyone to follow with a simple gesture of her hand. Ravio offered his hand to the kid and moved after her.

\- - -

The inner rooms of the palace offered something more about New Hyrule’s past than what could be seen around. Ravio noticed Link stop in front of a portrait and, much to the advisor’s surprise, the image painted on it was the one of a man who was the spitting image of the engineer. 

And he wore a green tunic, like the Link Ravio knew, not just something similar like all the knights in that castle. A wave of nostalgia slapped him in the face, but he did his best not to show it, who knew if the other Link’s Hyrule was thriving or if it was, in fact, the submerged kingdom that had been lost to the sea.

“That was my grandpa.” Engineer commented, gently elbowing Ravio’s side. “I never really met him but everyone told me a lot about his adventures. According to Grandpa Niko, last thing he did was leave me behind to try to save my parents from something and never came back.”

The advisor realized the queen stopped as well, but she wasn’t stepping back toward them. Little Link, on the other hand, immediately went to his pictobox to steal a picture of the large portrait.   
  
“A hero’s grandpa!” the prince commented, grinning widely.   
  
“I guess…” the conductor scratched the back of his head “I wish I knew why I never even heard about him being close to Zelda’s grandma but…” he turned in the queen’s direction and she offered a little smile, shrugging, “I guess I had their reasons they grew apart. Which isn’t exactly bad.”

“Oh, how so?” She asked, as the group started to proceed once more, Ravio’s attention mostly on the statues and the various portraits of people that probably made the history of Hyrule. Unlike the past Link, no one felt familiar to him.

“I know what people assumed about them! I could have been your brother!” the conductor replied, raising his hands up in and assuming a dramatic pose. “Can you imagine it? Me? Having to act like a noble?”   
  
“Oh, I don’t have to imagine, I saw you  _ try _ .” was Zelda’s reply, a grin on her face. 

The two kept exchanging lively banter until they reached a room that was different from the rest: there were no statues, no portraits, no library shelves. It was a little, circular dome with a small platform in the middle, and the two Hyruleans stepped right in on it, Link with a flute made by six wooden tubes and Zelda with no instrument between her hands.

Wait, no music scores or anything? Ravio blinked, looking down at the child, who was completely focused on the other two.

“Uncle Ravio-” the prince whispered. “Are they about to use magic?”   
  
“I think so, my liege.” he replied, placing both hands on his shoulders once more and standing right behind him as the other two continued their preparations. From how she was humming and the Engineer only replied with a nod or two, it seemed like the man didn’t really need to read music, he could listen to it and just repeat the song on the spot.   
  
“I’m so excited! I saw mama cast spells before, but she uses her scepter for everything, not music!”   
  
“Well, prince Link, magic comes in many forms of shape.”   
  
Ravio himself performed some magic, back in the days, using the little ability he had to travel to Hyrule, but after that he almost completely dropped his spellcasting studies to focus on the Kingdom’s well being. Even then, though, his skills paled in front of the Queen’s incredible powers. Too bad her spells were mostly destructive in nature and not quite helpful in most situations where a magic hand could have helped.    
  
Not to mention her powers were… uncontrollable, at times, and without her scepter Hilda didn’t dare to cast anything for fear to see it backfire.   
  
Getting to see Zelda just prepare herself to  _ sing  _ to cast was different. She was serene and happy, Engineer’s excitement was contagious as well… he envied how carefree their world felt, he realized.

“Okay, Link, I will go first. Ready?”   
  
“Ready!”   
  
The queen took a deep breath, slowly singing seven notes and then stopping, turning in Link’s direction. Wait, that was it? The Hylian brought the instrument to his lips, replaying the same notes and giving her the spot to sing once more.

That felt so… incredibly underwhelming. 

The back and forth was repeated two more times, Ravio could even see Little Link’s ears slowly descend in disappointment, then something changed. 

Like the whole show had been merely a rehearsal so far, the two started playing together. Not only that, after a moment of Link accompanying Zelda’s voice, another instrument seemed to join them. One after the other, more followed. At first it was some kind of violin, then some kind of weird instrument that seemed to be played with the pizzicato technique and… a flute, perhaps? He couldn’t see any other musicist, but there were at least five more.   
  
The melody started changing as well, getting more and more complex every other couple of beats, and beams of magical light started filtering through the ceiling, all around them. 

At that point, even if it was just a voice and a flute, Ravio and the young prince could hear almost a whole orchestra as the magical light started curving above the Hyruleans’ heads, conglomerating together and almost blinding the presents as it took shape.    
  
With a loud ‘thud’, something fell between Zelda and Link.   
  
“A Rail Map?” asked the Engineer, reaching for what seemed an incomplete stone tablet. From Ravio’s position it was hard to tell what it looked like.   
  
“A  _ new _ Rail Map.” the queen confirmed him.

The advisor saw Link’s smile grow wide as he pressed the piece of rock against its chest, bouncing on the spot like an excited kid. The queen rolled her eyes, smiling with both affection and resignation.   
  
“Go, you fool, that’s all we needed to do.”   
  
Engineer raised the tablet above his head, grinning widely, and hopping back toward the two Loruleans without even remembering to bid the queen goodbye.   
  
“Come on, you two, I can’t wait to see where this will lead us!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's worth mentioning I will try to include small pics, now and then, but the one in this chapter was doodled before I could write the chapter itself so... sorry, no 'sexy, showing his muscles' Link in the fic itself.

It was a blessing that Engineer took care of his job the day after they arrived, most boxes he had to carry around had already been packed on his train’s freight cart and all he still had to work with was the paperwork part of it. And cuccoos. So many cuccoos. Apparently someone in Aboda Village wanted to expand their egg farm business and, knowing that, the conductor had to organize a whole cage just to transport them properly, reducing the stress as much as he could. 

Two dozens of birds had been packed in the last cart of the train with water, food and enough hay on the floor to keep them comfortable for a while and in the hope that their, huh, ‘wastes’ wouldn’t stain the wooden boards too much.

“I thought we were going to travel for your train…” Ravio dared to say, stepping to the Engineer’s side as the other finished opening the last animal cage inside. With the kid playing with his new coloring books, the two had more freedom to speak.

“Mh? Oh, well, trust me when I say I can’t wait to get down to making my girl a bit better-” he closed the door of the cart. “But while I’m working for us… you know, me and my train, you and your people, I can’t just forget that people of the land want things and don’t have anything but us engineers to get what they need. Postment may bring letters, but however they travel… heavy stuff can only be carried by us. And the smiles of people are… well, I can’t just focus on myself, right?”

“Mhm…” So many words just to say he didn’t want to give up his job as he traveled for himself. “Well… I have nothing better to do at the moment and my prince is busy, is there anything I can do to help with your job?”   
  
The short man turned, a grin on his lips, and his green eyes wandered for a moment over the advisor’s body before he was ready with his reply. 

“I mean no offense, buddy, but you don’t seem like the kind of guy who can lift up crates. not yet, at least. And I’m almost done anyway, just making sure all is well sealed, some paperwork to check for the inventory and we will be off.”   
  
“About that… perhaps I could help with the bureaucracy? I’m rather familiar with that kind of job and while New Hyrule forms and papers may be different, I should be able to find my way around them.”   
  
He saw Engineer’s ears drop, the other seemed to consider the offer for a good moment, then he shrugged. 

“You know what? Go for it. All papers are in my engine room, all you need to do is check that everything that has been crossed out on the list has been registered and then deliver all documents to the station master. He doesn’t like me anyway so if you do that… eh, big bonus for me?”

The Lorulean tilted his head, it was the second time Link mentioned the station master wasn’t fond of him but he had the impression some details were being omitted, there, the other was usually a never ending flood of words, but he had been unusually vague about that.

“Well, I will see what I can do.” he replied with a nod, anyway. The job seemed easy enough and considering the other really put down everything on lists to remember what he needed, mostly because he apparently tended to forget very easily about things… “Let me know if there’s anything else I should do.”   
  
“Take it easy, bud, we’re about to leave in an hour anyway. I promise I will take you and the kid home, and hopefully we’ll also have plenty of goods to share with your people. I mean, if what Zelda was hinting and the Spirit Train will be able to move back and forth, it’d be my pleasure to become your people’s personal supplier.”   
  
Engineer winked in Ravio’s direction and the advisor cracked a small smile. If they truly were going to be able to stabilize some kind of connection between the two worlds, perhaps Lorule had a chance considering how generous the people of that land were and how many resources they seemed to have.

And a train could carry way more goods than a man with a bracelet, anyway.

“Queen Hilda would be delighted to hear that. Now, if you excuse me…” he only hummed, daring to imagine his queen finally happy and his people fed. Even if, as Engineer said, Ravio was now a bundle of bones… he also looked forward to regaining some weight.

With a small wave in the other man’s direction, he walked toward the engine room.

\- - -

The inventory had been easier than Ravio expected, mostly because engineer already did most of the work, and after checking all documents he was finally ready to deliver everything to the station master. He just had a question…

“Excuse me, sir?”   
  
“Buddy, just call me Engi or something, please.” The other replied, tossing a box over his shoulders and turning in the Advisor’s direction. Little Link joined the conductor already, as the other man prepared the coal for the trip and checked they had everything needed, and the kid was just drinking a fruit juice from a metallic tin.

“I just… think there’s a mistake here.” Ravio said, holding the documents up. Engineer tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

“How so?”

“Well…” The advisor approached the other. “All the invoices and… everything, really, is addressed toward a certain Lily Lon Lon…?” not Link, not a single time.

He saw Engineer’s ears drop immediately.

“Oh…”   
  
“Oh?”   
  
“Listen, it’s a funny story, really…” the engineer was quick to approach Ravio, almost snatching the papers from his hands “So, I have a pretty bad handwriting, right?”   


The advisor frowned, while it was pretty bad he could still read what Engineer wrote easily enough.

“So, when I got my certificate? All was good and nice. Then I registered to this stupid station and the station master was like… I mean, I apparently wrote my name pretty bad and the idiot was amused with the idea of Lee Lee Lon Lon and…. this happened. On official documents I have a name that’s not my own.”   
  
Ravio had to hold back an amused snort. He knew the other could be chaotic and messy but… being registered with a wrong name?

“Sure there must be something you could do to fix this… I mean, you’re friends with the queen.”   
  
Engineer hesitated for a moment, then put the box down, crossed his arms and shook his head.

“Let’s say she’s amused by my personal feud with the station master. So, no, I can’t change the fact that, at least on paper, I’m Lily Lon Lon.” A pause and the man’s tone got suddenly serious. “I’d be really grateful if you could avoid using that name… ever. And I really mean it.”

Oh, okay, it was a sore spot for the other. While Ravio still found the whole thing hilarious, he knew it wasn’t a button he was supposed to push with the Engineer. Pft.

“Well, since you and the station master seem to like each other so much, I will just go and deliver those for you, my friend.”

There was a twitch in the other’s ears and the prince’s lips curved in a huge smile. 

“That I like, buddy, you calling me friend. Go, the less I see that man, the happier I am.” Link commented, not even bothering to look in the station’s direction as he picked up the box once more and threw it on his shoulders. “I’ll put this in its place, take a quick shower and then we can depart. Did you get everything you needed?”

The advisor stopped to think about it. He got himself and the kid stuff to have fun cooking while traveling, some shaving supplies since Engineer’s bathroom seemed strangely devoid of them and Ravio had his growing beard bother him for days, they had food, clothes, the annoying pictobox of the kid.

“We’re ready to leave.” 

“Then hurry up, buddy, I’ll be ready soon as well. We got this!” 

With that, Engineer hopped up on the cart he was working on and the kid immediately followed him inside. Ravio sighed, shook his head and started walking toward the building where he was supposed to deliver the other’s stuff. He was honestly a bit curious to finally meet Engineer’s little nemesis of sort, considering he apparently had enough influence to make Link wear formal clothes.

\- - -

The meeting with the Station master had been absolutely underwhelming. The man barely looked up in Ravio’s direction, grabbed the documents and dismissed him. 

Despite the disappointing encounter with a man who somehow seemed just too formal for his surroundings, the advisor was quick to jump back on the train as soon as he was given the documents that were needed for the departure. Engineer was already waiting in the front of the train, his long hair still wet, and the machine started moving as soon as the advisor was inside.

“Uncle Ravio! Look!”

His kid immediately beamed in his direction and Ravio’s heart skipped a beat as soon as he realized what the child was wearing: he either found or had been given a green tunic that felt way too familiar and while Ravio managed to ignore the royal guards dressing like his old friend Link… 

“That’s…”

He knew both him and the kid had traits very similar to the hero of Hyrule, after all they were his counterpart in Lorule, but it was almost painful to see him in the young prince as the kid jumped around in tiny boots and green hat. Sometimes Ravio wondered why it hurt so much thinking about him but… he couldn’t really afford to be sentimental, not while on a mission.

“That’s lovely, my prince.” 

“Thank you! You know… this was the same dress Link used when he was busy saving the world with Zelda! Look at those scratches! They were made by the great demon Malladus himself!”

Ravio frowned, while he never commented on Link saying it had been a whole decade since he picked up his sword… now that he was getting to see the actual dress he used during the final battle, he wondered if the other had really been just a child when the kingdom had been in danger. No, right? Most of Engineer’s stories were probably made up and he said that just to entertain the kid.

“That’s very impressive, my prince.” he replied, stepping closer and balancing himself as the train started to pick up speed. “But perhaps you would like to change yourself if we’re going to cook.”.

The advisor moved to the table and picked up the book him and the kid purchased earlier. Link’s reaction was of immediate delight.

“I want to make it with peaches!” the kid yelled, taking off the tunic in one swift movement and throwing it on the bed. “And Ananas.”

“Ana-what?”

“That’s how they call pineapples here! They’re in tins and all round and with a hole in the middle, Link gave me a slice to try and it was soooo good!”

Pineapples, huh? Ravio knew the kid had seen them in books but… oh, well, if he liked them.

“I see. Then I have to ask you to put on some proper clothes and then we will try this train’s oven, shall we?”

“YES! I can’t believe I’m going to cook stuff!” the kid chuckled. “The cooks never wanted me in the kitchen before!”

Because it wasn’t an appropriate place for royalty and because they didn’t want to show the kid how much they struggled to put anything on the table, even for the royal family, but Link didn’t need to know that. 

“Then it’s the perfect time to start. Let’s go wash our hands, my liege, it’s time to make a cake.”

\- - -

When Engineer returned to the cabin, way later in the night, the whole cart smelled like sadness and desolation.

“Huh… what happened here?” He asked, opening the windows and allowing his snake to move out of his coat and climb out of the window to breathe fresh air.

“Huh…” Both Link and Ravio looked down on the small table where three trays of cake were now lying. Three attempts to make a cake on the go, three complete failures. 

The first cake straight up burnt on the top, while the fruits the two ‘dumped’ on the bottom were still watery and messy.. It was literally charcoal on the top of a small puddle of wobbly mess. But it had to be just because they failed at using the oven properly, wasn’t it?

Probably, that was why they decided to go for a second attempt, This time they followed the recipe to the letter, even making sure to use a drink that ‘sparkled’, something they had never seen before moving to New Hyrule. The whole ‘cake’ just kept bubbling in the oven and when they took it out the top was an uncooked powder and the bottom was just… fizzy. Cakes weren’t supposed to be powder on water that kept fizzing, were they?

That was why they cranked up the heat for the last one, making sure to place the tray on the bottom of the oven so the grill on the top wouldn’t burn it too quickly. Needless to say, it didn’t work and now the whole place was filled with the smell of sweet, overcooked fruits and burnt cake.

“I am afraid we are failing to figure out how your kitchen’s oven works, Mr.Engineer.”

The conductor reopened the door behind himself to let the air circulate better and stepped closer, frowning as he checked the three cakes.

“We wanted to make a dessert worthy of a hero like you.” The prince whined and Engineer only raised an eyebrow, poking the peach cake with a fork.

“I appreciate the effort, kiddo, but I don’t think the issue was the oven… what were you even trying to make?”

Ravio only pushed the dump cake book in Engineer’s direction, turning the book around so the other could easily read the title.

“Oh, buddy… That’s what went wrong. You’ve been scammed big time, that kind of book is for lonely bachelors who don’t even know how to cook themselves some potatoes.” 

“Well, I…” Ravio felt some heat rush to his cheeks, it was true he didn’t know how to cook but at the same time he and Link tried their best. “We are not familiar with this world’s… level of technology and we assumed this could work out?”

The other man managed to keep his expression straight for less than ten seconds, before Ravio could say anything else, Engineer was laughing out loud. 

“It’s okay. You know what?” The conductor snorted, ruffling the prince’s black hair. “I need to take a shower, I smell worse than this place, but after that we’re cooking together, what about it?”

“Yes… thank you, Link.” The prince replied, jumping off his chair and wrapping his arms around Engineer’s legs.

“Fair. I thank you for your patience, I will make sure this food isn’t wasted and-”

The conductor turned in Ravio’s direction almost immediately.

“Excuse me? Are you saying you wanna eat this?”

"Well, we can’t exactly throw it away…”

The man stepped between Ravio and the cakes, literally pushing him away from the cakes and placing both hands on his sides. “Buddy’ I’m not allowing anyone to get food poisoning on my train.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

“It’s still food-”

The other rolled his eyes, turned, grabbed the trays, piling one over the other, and just marched toward the door.

“No, sir, don’t-”

“Buddy, I told you what I think of you calling me sir, right?”

With those words, Engineer sent three metallic trays flying, their content spilling all over the glass right next to the train tracks. Ravio felt petrified, Link behind him only burst into laughter at the conductor’s actions.

“There we go.” the shorter man clapped his gloved hands together, probably to get rid of bits of fruit sauce that spilled over. Ravio, who spent years knowing what it felt like to go to bed with an empty stomach, felt anger rise inside of him. How could a person be so inconsiderate toward others who had nothing?

“That was- You had no reason to throw it away!” He said, raising his voice for the first time in the gods only knew how long. The kid immediately stopped laughing and Engineer turned, facing the advisor with his chin up.

“Listen, I get it, wasting food is bad, I don’t like that either but- I have money, I have supplies and no guest of mine is going to get sick because they’re eating garbage.” The conductor pressed one finger against Ravio’s purple tunic, accidentally smearing it with coal. Neither of them seems to mind as they confront each other. 

“It was merely going to taste bad!” the advisor replied, still feeling personally offended by the other’s actions. “Perhaps food means nothing to you, but with all that stuff we could have fed a whole family for two days in Lorule!”

They stood there, looking at each other for a long moment until Engineer sighed, raised his hands and took a step back.

“Okay, buddy, I apologize.” 

Ravio refused to reply, his green eyes still occasionally glancing in the direction of the metallic trays outside.

“Listen, I messed up but you have to understand that I also have some standards. And I want to see you look a bit better before I let you go back home. Not that it’s happening anytime soon but that only means you get time to relax. Spirits, the only reason I don’t just ask you to wait in my Aboda home is... “ 

Engineer bit his lips, looking away and looking tense for a moment, then he restarted talking like that part of the conversation was irrelevant. Ravio took mental not to ask him about it, possibly when they had a chance to speak on their own.

“If we’re going to live together we need to… find some balance of sorts. I just ask you to, you know… sit back, relax, and try to let me do my work. And not burn down the whole kitchen.”

Before Ravio could answer, Engineer was smiling up in his direction once more.

“Now, Let me wash, I’ll go clean that mess after we’re done eating and after that we can work out some rules for the, huh, let’s call it ‘household’.” Link raised one finger up, “No wasting more food will be one of the rules on top, big promise, but I’ll also pick a few actual cooking books for you so if you and kiddo want to have fun we’ll not... make a mess. Deal?”

The advisor sighed, he couldn’t ignore that he and the kid made those horrible ‘cakes’ in the first place and that Engineer still opened his place’s doors to two complete strangers and was still trying to help. Not to mention, he didn’t want to upset the prince with another fight.

“You go take your shower, Engi.” Ugh, he didn’t really like to use such a nickname, but it was his way to show he was willing to try harder in the name of cooperation. “I will go get the trays and get them cleaned for the time you’re out.”

“I appreciate it, buddy.” the conductor pressed his hand against Ravio’s shoulder, leaving another small mark, then headed toward the bathroom after ruffling little Link’s hair. “Later!”

With that the conductor locked himself in the bathroom and the Loruleans were left to take care of what had been thrown outside. Deep, deep down, Ravio had to admit it was a relief being able to avoid those horrible cakes, the smell coming from them was just awful.

\- - -

The two days that followed were so relaxing they were borderline boring. The kid spent most of his time taking pictures of what they could see outside or coloring his books and Ravio experimented in the kitchen, mostly trying to recreate simple recipes he learnt from his Hyrule’s Link. They lacked some ingredients but compared to the first day’s fiasco, the new dishes were at least passable.

He liked lying in the larger bed with the kid, just chatting with him and trying, now and then, to cover some of the lessons he knew the kid was missing. It was reassuring to know that as long as the train kept moving, that meant nothing was wrong and each mile was just them moving a bit closer to their return to Lorule.

In part he felt a bit guilty for forcing Engineer to travel almost nonstop since there was some urgency to their quest, on the other side he felt safe.

“Look, uncle Ravio! I can see the sea again!”

The child was sitting by the window and Ravio joined him to look outside, taking off the apron he tossed on himself to avoid flour stains. Link was right, that was definitely the sea and that meant they were almost at their destination. The train took a large curve and started running at the beach’s side, its whistle occasionally blowing to alert citizens that a vehicle was approaching and if anyone had the terrible idea of playing on the tracks it was time to get off.

“We’re about to see Link’s house!” the kid chirped, jumping off and starting to change himself from the pajama that has become his standard outfit in that cabin with something a bit more practical.

Ravio didn’t exactly share the same enthusiasm, Engineer made it clear he only owned the property but spent very little there, for whatever reason, it wasn’t going to feel very… personal. Not to mention it meant that if Alfonzo accepted to move in with them, they were going to share their space with yet another person and, while Ravio trusted Engineer at this point, he knew nothing about this swordsman.

He got up once more, starting to clean the mini kitchen from his poor attempt at making pasta from scratch and getting dressed up as well: he mostly spent his time in a long tunic but if the short time in Papuchia taught him something was that beach villages were way too warm for comfort.

He put on some black pants, a long purple tunic with short sleeves and tied a belt around his waist while adjusting his hair. Before he knew it, the train was already starting to slow down and he could see houses in the distance, not too different from the ones he saw in the other sea village.

Him and Link patiently waited for Engineer to stop properly at the small, wooden station of that place. When they stepped outside a whole group of people turned in their direction like they just saw a pig fly, but any attempt to speak to the conductor was cut short by the fact that Link was literally diving from his cabin between the arms of… well, the biggest and most muscular man Ravio had ever seen.

“I am home, Alfie!”

“I noticed, squirt.” The older man ruffled his hair, forcing him to return to the ground after giving Engineer a good, affectionate squeeze. 

Squirt, huh? Now Ravio knew where Engineer probably picked his nicknames for the child. The advisor looked up at the man Link was now pulling toward them, he was wearing an uniform incredibly similar to Engineer, just in brown. That was Link’s mentor, wasn’t it?

“Hey, Fruitcake!” Oh, great, he was introducing him to his whole village with that annoying nickname. “This is Alfonzo, he agreed to come with us for the journey! Alfonzo, those are Ravio and Link-” Many eyebrows were raised at the kid’s name, some heads snapped in the Engineer’s direction like they almost expected him to say he was the father. “-and they’re my new buddies. Now… let’s get my work done, then we’ll discuss the most important thing.”

“Traveling?” The mentor asked, a grin on his lips.

“Of course not!” Engineer replied, slapping his chest with the back of his hand. “We’re going to talk about my train!”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start I wanted to thank the wonderful Wasabi-Draws for drawing Ravio and Little Link in[ this little compilation](https://wasabi-draws.tumblr.com/post/630334841346555904/just-an-appreciation-post-for-some-of-my-favourite) of Best Links. I love the coloring, the pose and everything! And even [Canranfu](https://canranfu.tumblr.com/) made a drawing of [Ravio and Engineer](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/757605657863127052/758217499824750633/image1.jpeg) and I love it very much. The last one was made by Merakkli (Check his Ao3 profile, I have no idea how to tag him directly çç Working on it.) on a theme of '[Engineer being his chaotic self and using Ravio's braid as impromptu scarf](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/757605657863127052/757739145803202660/image0.jpg)”.
> 
> I am very blessed by the company of wonderful artists and I'm incredibly grateful!

Link’s village was incredibly small but at the same time more chaotic than Castle Town or Papuchia village. Rei got there before them, but when Ravio tried to ask how he was immediately silenced by everyone just just told him ‘postmen didn’t share their secrets’, for the rest of the people… well, they seemed incredibly curious about the advisor and the child Engineer brought over.

Apparently, the other didn’t let people enter his ‘mancave’ often, it had been a surprise for everyone to see the Lorulean step out of it.    
  
“He’s very possessive of his spaces.” Commented one of the ladies who was bringing them to Link’s house. “Not that I blame him, considering he literally lives on that train. I am not sure why he refuses to stay in the village, especially considering he owns one of the best houses of the place.”

Ravio shrugged it off, It wasn’t really surprising for him, not knowing the man and his passion for his machine. He only needed a couple of days around Link to understand his passion for the Spirit Train. And the house…   
  
“What…” he pointed up to the sail planted over the large hut where the ladies were leading him and the kid.

“The previous owner said that was the sail of the ship Queen Tetra herself guided here!” an elderly lady said, smiling widely. “If you ask me, the old man was a bit bonkers, but he used to tell the best stories.”   
  
“Yeah-” Another one chimed in. “He used to say he was part of the original crew, but for that to be true he should have been, what? At least one hundred and fifty years old by the time he died?”   
  
“He was pretty resilient but that’s just too much for any person.”

The merchant didn’t reply as the gossips continued, there were various stories about the great sea that the sailor used to share, apparently, but between Zora evolving into bird people (Why? Why in a world covered in water?) and cursed ghost ships… it was hard to believe them.

“Hey, aunties?”   
  
The little prince bounced in front of them, arms open wide.   
  
“What about uncle Link, huh? He told me his adventure but I bet there’s much more than him killing one big demon! Does he secretly save pretty girls in distress? Does he join big fights to protect Hyrule?”   
  
The ladies chuckled, shaking their heads.   
  
“Have you ever seen him use a sword, dear?”   
  
Little Link shook his head, turning toward them and starting to walk backward, Ravio was more than ready to rush forward and grab him if the prince lost his balance.   
  
“Well, he’s not exactly…”   
  
“He liked to do one spinning attack but his head tends to, well… he tends to get dizzy when he does that. It’s quite the show.”   
  
Another woman laughed. “He apparently put his hands on one of the strongest blades in the Kingdom and decided he didn’t like to use it.”   
  
“Oh, but he still keeps it around. Be prepared, though, he may not know where he left it.”   
  
“Most of the time he says ‘oh, I left stuff in another place’ but it’s just his excuse to say ‘I have no idea where I put that’.”   
  
“Once he was supposed to attend an important ceremony in Castle Town and he was supposed to wear his green outfit and bring the sword. He spent a week panicking because he couldn’t find it.”   
  
“It was literally over his bed. Under a pile of other clothes. Now, if he bothered to sleep at home, once in a while, instead of sleeping on his train.”   
  
“Or if he kept his things in order.”   
  
“He will never do that outside of his little Train, honey. The spirits know he cares more about that machine than himself.”   
  
Ravio rolled his eyes as the chatter continued and they reached the large hut that was in the western side of the village. It was, indeed, huge, and it had the most bizarre roof the advisor had ever seen, he wondered how the sail never caused problems or instability during storms. 

He wasn’t one for gossip, nor he cared about how the ladies basically described the conductor as the worst possible husband by their standards: Link was his and the prince’s ally and that was enough, even if the headache was occasionally strong when the other started vomiting words that didn’t always form proper sentences.   
  
“Well, I thank you very much for taking us here, my ladies…” Ravio started, reaching for his kid once they finally were in front of the door. “But I think it’s time for us to settle down. Perhaps we could take a drink later?”   
  
Not that he was planning to do it, there was always going to be something more important to do, but he hoped that could work.   
  
“Aw, absolutely dear.”   
  
“See you later.”   
  
“Let us know if you need anything else.”

He picked up the kid between his arms, ready to enter. The little prince was already starting to grow too heavy for him to carry but it wasn’t like Ravio had many chances to do it before and he wanted to enjoy the feeling as long as he could.

They entered Link’s actual house and the first thing that greeted both Lorulean was a strong smell of ****. Windows and doors had not been opened for quite some time, had they? Wandering with the little light that was coming from the entrance, Ravio reached for the shutters, lifting them up and opening the windows to let some fresh air enter.   
  
“Ew....” was all the prince said, noticing how a good layer of dust covered most things.    
  
“Ew indeed, my liege…” Ravio replied, realizing the house was… weird. Half of the house was immaculate, barely holding any furniture and containing countless art supplies carefully stored in perfect order. Papers were piled and there was a single, little corner where a little… a miniature theater of sort was standing. Looking at the various panels left around, they all seemed to fit the small screen so… whoever used them had to be some kind of storyteller.   
  
His eyes wandered just a little further, but they all seemed to speak of boats and such, he couldn’t place them together. There was a cane in a corner, it probably belonged to Niko when he was alive, and a walker had been abandoned under a small blanket. That was where the man who raised the engineer lived, wasn’t it?    
  
And the other half…   
  
Sweet, gods, where to start? Half of the house was pure chaos. Things had been thrown around and there was a pile of boxes filled with papers. Clothes were scattered around, there were items of all kinds and… he had the feeling Engineer mostly used that place as storage, somehow still avoiding to cross the line and place his things where Niko lived.

The old man certainly had a deep impact on him, if somehow his memory alone managed to keep the chaos at bay. It was probably even dangerous to walk in Link’s part of the house, considering the multitude of tools that had been left on the floor. Ravio didn’t even know what half of those were for, even if some seemed to be there for calibration purposes and… to fix machines? Whatever Engineer used them for, it was clear that man had only one thing in mind and it was his train.   
  
“Well…” he put the prince down on a somehow clean chair and grabbed one of the brooms from a corner. He had no idea how long him and Little Link were going to stay in Aboda Village, but he wasn’t going to let his son sleep in a garbage bin.   
  
“I see whoever lived here had plenty of colors, my prince. Perhaps you could make some new drawings? In the meanwhile, I will try to clean this house a bit.”   
  
“Are you sure? This is worse than mama’s room when she starts working too much.”   
  
“I’m certain I can handle the queen at her worst, in terms of chaos, so I’m sure I can at least… attempt to tame this.”   
  
“Good luck, uncle Ravio.”   
  
“I certainly appreciate it, my prince."

After saying that, Ravio slipped his long braid under his tunic, to protect it from the dirt, wrapped his sash around the head and made sure to pass it in front of his mouth and nose as well, so he wouldn’t have to breathe too much of that mess.   
  
Time to get to work.   
  
\- - -    
  
Whatever Link was doing, he didn’t go home for hours. It gave Ravio time to at least organize some of the stuff, gather all tools in one place, collect papers from the floor and at least give Little Link a bed where to sleep since even Niko’s bed had been assaulted with some devices.    
  
That being said, if Ravio’s back was hurting by the time Engineer returned, he could tell the other was equally pained by the way he walked in, holding his head low and keeping two hands on his back while carrying a bag.   
  
“Long day?”   
  
“You have no idea, buddy… Someone rolled rocks in front of one of the houses, taking advantage of an inclination, and I was asked to help remove them. That was after delivering cuccoos and helping with crates. Love my job but, man, in this place I’d kill for a couple of extra cranes to help me around, since it’s mostly old people.”   
  
“Huh....” The advisor replies, leaning against his broom and looking at the other.   
  
“But someone gotta be a true man, right? It’s a good thing I was around when the few local teens decided to cause problems. Alfonzo is strong but he shouldn’t do it all alone and...huh?” Link’s brain finally seemed to register that the place had been cleaned. “Oh, wow, you did a lot of work yourself, buddy. That’s… impressive.”   
  
“Considering how well organized you are on the train, it was a surprise to see the supreme chaos reigning in this place.”   
  
“Well, in the train I don’t really have a lot of stuff… you know, it’s easy when you eat, you clean and forget about it. And it’s not like I have a lot of clothes anyway.”   
  
Right. Ravio remembered the large chest and the absolute mess that was inside, between uniforms, tools and old clothes. How could someone be so efficient at his job but at the same time so disorganized for… apparently anything else. The Lorulean sighed, pointing with his head to the sleeping child and letting Link know he was supposed to be silent.   
  
“Oh, sorry… but, really, impressive work here. You should take a break and a shower, though.” A pause. “Oh, you probably want to do that on the train, though, this house’s shower is outside. You know, where the large wooden barrel is.”   
  
Ravio raised an eyebrow. He thought that was a water collector of sort, not to mention it was dirty after being filled with what was probably rainwater for a while.   
  
“I see… well, the train will have to do it, then.” He wasn’t picky about it, at all. In Lorule they didn’t even have a water system like that Kingdom did and, honestly? Ravio only wanted to learn more to bring it to his land, it was way too useful. But it wasn’t the right time to focus on that.   
  
“So… what is our current situation? Are we moving soon?”   
  
“Yes… Oh, by the way, Alfonzo’s wife packed us dinner. Dila says she knows me and how I cook and she mentioned something about treating you two right and not starving my guests with canned stuff-” Engineer raised his hands after placing the bag on the floor. “I was like- girl, I brought them to restaurants! And she reminded me there are no restaurants here and that-”   
  
“Sir Engineer, please, can we get to the point?”   
  
“First? Drop the Sir. Second, yes we can. Help me prepare the table in the meanwhile.”

Ravio shook his head, taking off the gloves he picked for the cleaning process and started opening the cabinets to find what was needed for their meal.

“So, Today we’re here, Alfonzo is still finishing a job and I need to take a good sleep too, driving is fun but I’m just a simple man and even I require time off.”   
  
A little pause followed, Ravio only turned, raising an eyebrow.   
  
“Did the villagers make you work so much? I can’t imagine you not wanting to spend your life driving the train.”   
  
“Mmmh… there’s a reason I’m not that often here. I don’t get along with some of the older buddies. But it’s cool. They don’t like me, I don’t like them, all is good in the world.” He started placing boxes on the table. “It’s… weird.”   
  
“It is, you’re usually so social, sometimes even a bit too much, hard to imagine people plainly disliking you to your face.”   
  
“Yeah but, you know… people expect things from you, they think you’ll grow up in what they’re expecting you to be and…” he stopped, one of the gloved hands lingering on one of the containers, like he wasn’t sure of how to continue. “I’m not the person they wanted when Niko started raising me, that’s all.”   


The Lorulean started placing plates on the table, eyeing the still sleeping child. Mh, he could smell the garlic even from the still closed boxes, Little Link was going to be so happy with whatever they were going to have for dinner… but he still had a moment with Link, first.

“I thought the title of Engineer was rather important in this world…”

“It is, it’s just that....” the other shook his head, taking the hat off and throwing it on the boxes that Ravio carefully gathered in a corner. “You know what? Niko, Rei, Alfonzo… all the people who matter always supported me and that’s what matters, just because some idiots can still drain my energy a bit too easily… I’ll get over it. Now, back to us… Tomorrow? Here. Then we leave and head to the trading post, with Alfie in the team it will take two days, not more, and then… How long we will stay there depends on how far Lineback is with the work I commissioned him.”   
  
“You mentioned that, before. May I ask what you are purchasing from him?”   
  
Engineer didn’t immediately reply, he only turned in Ravio’s direction and grinned widely.   
  
“You will see, buddy. Anyway, it will be done soon, I told him we can’t really stay in one place for too long.”   
  
The advisor’s ears perked up. The wording itself wasn’t very suspicious, perhaps, but the tone the other used… there was something wrong with it.   
  
“How so?”   
  
“Oh? It’s just… stuff. I don’t like sitting for too long in a place, that’s my norm, and if I don’t tell him to hurry up that man may take forever.” Engineer chuckled, raising his arms once more. “Come on, go wake up little me, I’m so hungry I could eat a dozen eggs.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?” There was something in the way Link immediately wanted to close the conversation that didn’t convince him, but the other only shook his head and started throwing rice in his plate.   
  
“Buddy, food time. And this is Dina’s fantastic food, I don’t even know what she does but she uses coconut milk like a goddess and you must try her stew with this rice, I swear to the spirits her homemade food sends me to a whole new dimension every time.” The man shook his head, taking his gloves off and marched toward the little bed. Ravio knew no more talk was going to happen, not with the kid bouncing around them. “Come on, little me! It’s time to fill our stomach!”

\- - -

Taking a shower made Ravio feel reborn, again, and he was glad Link took his time to explain to him how to warm the water even when the train wasn’t running. This was something only the Spirit Train could do without hot coals in its core and… well, the advisor wasn’t going to complain about taking the extra trip if it meant warm water. 

It was nice to walk back ‘home’ in his tunic, his hair still a bit wet, and just embrace the pleasantness of a village at peace. The sun already disappeared behind the sea, yet the sky was still bright in its mix of purple and pink hues, as stars started to appear and decorate it, voices of young kids playing around could be heard coming from one of the few houses with a young couple in it and… music?   
  
The Lorulean stopped, closing his eyes and listening to it. The tunes in that place were more lively than anything he ever heard in both Lorule and Hyrule, the beats were fast and the words barely made any sense, but it wasn’t too bad. A couple of steps further and he realized the music was not coming from a random building around town, no, it was coming from the house where he left Little Link and Link alone.   
  
“How…” 

He didn’t see any phonograph inside the house, while he cleaned, nor he could imagine a whole band stepping inside just to entertain the kid and the engineer. Ravio frowned, hurrying back to his place. He doubted Link invited people over when, somehow, his social batteries seemed to be almost depleted (It was still weird, considering how he seemed to love spending time with others), but at the same time the mental image of his prince being surrounded by strangers… no, he didn’t like that.    
  
The advisor opened the door and he immediately took a deep breath of relief. While there were guests, it was just only Rei and Alfonzo: the tall man was holding the child on his lap, the other two were in the middle of a silly, energetic dance. 

Ravio stopped, leaning against the door and holding his bathing items behind crossed arms. Whatever the two were doing, it wasn’t any dance he had ever seen: movements were goofy, if Rei and Link lacked coordination in their movements he’d simply assume they were improvising and making fun of each other. Their dance wasn’t elegant like the ball dances he attended when he was younger, nor it had set movements like most of the popular dances he got to see in Hyrule.   
  
Feet, arms and the whole body were swinging in all directions as the two offered the kid a goofy show. So much for being exhausted, Mr.Engineer. Link took advantage of a moment when both were facing in the door’s direction to reach for his head and pretend to take his hat off in Ravio’s direction to greet him, no matter if the conductor’s hat was still on the pile of boxes.

The advisor offered a small smile and a nod, Link winked in his direction with an amused grin, then him and Rei held each other’s hand, he placed his free palm against her hip and both rushed toward the table. Ravio dropped a towel as the two spun around each other, climbing on the chair with one step, literally starting to dance in the middle of the table, carefully avoiding whatever was left from the dinner, and, starting to spin again, descended from the other direction.

That had to be improvised, right? The Advisor shook his head as the two bowed in the direction of a certain clapping child, apparently the music came from what seemed an incredibly small… phonograph? He assumed that thing was a metallic box, nothing more, when he moved it to a corner. Ravio sighed. That box somehow lacked almost all the charm he expected from any sort of music box, but it certainly managed to be loud... he only hoped Little Link didn't decide he wanted to bring it with them, the pictobox was already enough.

"He certainly recovered his energies quickly..." he commented to Alfonzo while taking a seat near the man, the prince barely acknowledged his presence since the other two were completely stealing his attention. Finally being at his side, it was much easier to notice how massive the other man was, it wasn't just an impression he got because both Links were incredibly smaller than him.

"He tends to recharge fast when he's around friends."

“Mh.”

“So… you fell from the sky, huh?”   
  
“That seems to be the case.”   
  
Before they could say more, the song was over and Little Link’s immediate reaction was spreading his arms and yelling, accidentally hitting the advisor’s face. No apology followed, the little prince just sprinted toward the others after leaping from Alfonzo’s lap.    
  
Ravio massaged his nose as another song started, covering whatever the two adults and the kid were now discussing, after a good moment Link trotted back while the postwoman was beginning to show Little Link a few steps.

“Boy, I’m tired.” only grumbled Engineer, flopping down with no grace at Alfonzo’s side, using the older man and big pillow. “Hey, buddy? You’re back so, you know, I’ll leave you and kiddo here and we’ll be going soon.”   
  
Ravio blinked, his ears twitching. 

“Wait, you’re planning to leave us in your house on our own?” That was… the first time he found himself thinking ‘this is a Link Thing’. After all, even Mr.Hero didn’t hesitate to leave the then merchant in his place. He just didn’t know why-   
  
“Well, gotta prepare the cabin where me and Alfie will stay. And I need a shower too.”   
  
“You do smell, but I’m not surprised.” Alfonzo hummed, ruffling his hair.   
  
“Yeah. So… once this song is over? We’ll move on and, you know, work. Been forever since I’ve been in this place’s workshop, too, it’s going to be funny!”

Right, Engineer said he was going to sleep somewhere else, but couldn’t he work after resting? At dinnertime he sounded exhausted. Was the simple idea of working on his stupid train enough to infuse him with so much new energy? Apparently that was the case.   
  
“You know I can’t spend the night there, right Squirt?”   
  
“Oh, come on, Alfie, it would be like the old times.” Engineer whined. The mentor’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.   
  
“Let’s get to work, my wife is waiting for me and you and Rei can dance tomorrow.”   
  
“I want to say ‘boooring’, but I like working on the train, so… yeah, let’s go. You gonna be okay for the night, buddy?”   
  
That was all Engineer asked, jumping back up on his feet and patting down his messy uniform, Alfonzo almost immediately imitated him. They were a weird duo: an incredibly stoic and silent man and the loudest person Ravio met in a long time… yet they seemed to have their own balance.   
  
“I think we’re okay. May I just ask… what is that music? It’s unlike anything I’ve heard before and, please, tell the prince we can’t take the music player on the train…”   


Link laughed, shaking his head.

“Swing dance, buddy. And don’t worry, Niko’s stuff will not leave this place. But you should probably get him something to play music with, it’s important in this world, you know?”   
  
“How so?”   
  
“Well…” The man crossed his arms as his mentor was already leaving the hut and the other two kept dancing in the middle of the little hut. “I don’t know if I already told you that but there are two kinds of magic in the world. One is the kind people like Zelda use, it’s… they have magic inside. The other kind is music. People born without access to natural magic? We just… use notes to channel the magical energy around us and give it form.”   
  
The advisor’s ears twitched and he squeezed his towel.   
  
“I… am not entirely sure the queen would approve of me allowing her son to learn magic.”   
  
Not to mention, he didn’t know if he wanted the kid to learn magical songs or anything of that kind. He was already gifted on his own, considering both Hilda and Ravio had access to magic. Engineer shook his head and shrugged.   
  
“As you wish, buddy. It’s your kid, after all.” Before Ravio could answer him, the other man leaned forward and poked his nose, interrupting any chain of thought. “Rei will leave after this song, so… Good night, Fruitcake, see you tomorrow.”   
  
The conductor threw his hat back on and, after waving to the kid, he was off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [You know how they're dancing, right? ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eco4z98nIQY)  
> I never expected the slice of life part of this story to last this long, I'm worried about the total length since we still have to hit proper adventure but hey, I'm in for the long run!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that's a bit shorter than usual because I'm under new meds and all I want to do is sleep. I know it'll still take me a few days to adapt but hopefully that won't be a major issue for long.

Ravio liked Link’s place. 

The place was incredibly peaceful, unlike the castle’s rooms and the train’s cart, and after a good cleaning it actually felt pleasant to be in. The only sound the advisor could hear in the middle of the night was the calming melody of the water outside and the light of the moon gently shining through the windows only seemed to caress the inside of the house. Ravio pushed his and Little Link’s beds next to each other and he almost felt blessed as he watched over his resting child. 

It was just him and his son, the kid was resting like an angel and everything was okay… so why couldn’t he relax? Ravio tossed around in the bed, feet kicking the blankets off, and he ended up sitting up on his bed’s corner, his eyes studying the windows and the gently dancing curtains that barely did anything to hide the full moon behind them. 

“Stupid, stupid Ravio…” he whispered to himselt, scratching his head.Truth was, the advisor knew why he was unable to relax: that house was wonderful, large and warm, sure, but unlike the train and his castle room? It felt dangerous. Nothing was really threatening them, but it still was an empty space and it lacked any protection of sorts, he felt… exposed.

The advisor sighed, it wasn’t like he was going to be unable to rest during the day, the prince even informed him that he had been invited over to Alfonzo’s place to play with the other kids. Perhaps he could try taking a good nap on the train during the morning…

He got up from his bed, well aware he had no chances to sleep, and he moved on the prince’s mattress, sitting not too far from him. With a small smile he dared to caress his cheek and, in a rare moment of bravery, reached down to place a small, shy kiss against the child’s cheeks. When he moved back, Ravio almost felt giddy. The kid was uniquely under Hilda’s care and he never had the opportunity to indulge in ‘dad’ things and… so far he was loving it.   


Link’s response in his sleep? The kid grumbled an annoyed ‘mama’, placed a hand against Ravio’s face and pushed him away. 

“Okay, I get it, no touching without permission…” He said, grinning and getting up. Ravio threw a long, purple robe over his shoulders and reached one of the windows, well aware that wandering and exploring the building’s surroundings were going to be his options for the night.   
  
That world’s moon was beautiful, incredibly more bright than it was on Lorule, even without proper lights he could see the palm trees outside and the sea shimmer in the distance. It was so peaceful considering the only sound he could hear it was the soft movement of waves. Leaning forward against the window, he found himself thanking his good luck once more. They traveled to a good world, they met good people and Nofiel was probably there as well, the advisor actually hoped to have a chance to meet her: Alfonzo was a great warrior, according to Link, but having Power’s bearer with them?   
  
Even considering how they parted, Ravio would have felt safe.

Something he didn’t feel in that place. Back in his place he had bars at his room’s windows, not to keep himself inside but to keep people out, he had guards patrolling the only bridge that led to his place and the queen’s rooms, there was a shield.

Here? Open windows, like a complete invitation to enter and slaughter sleeping people. While rationally speaking he knew it wasn’t going to happen, his more emotive side kept telling him to be alert at least for the prince’s sake. As he kept getting more and more aware of the reason he felt like that, Ravio’s anxiety started to rise with it.

Pale thin fingers clung around the wooden frame of the window as he gulped and took a deep breath, starting to repeat himself everything was fine and their only true enemy was time, because while they had all the needed food and resources, those who still lived in Lorule were starving.

“It would be nice to be able to leave everything behind once more and just spend the rest of my life here with you, my prince…” he whispered, shaking his head. “But we can’t be guests forever, nor leave mom behind, can we?”   
  
Ravio adjusted his robe, covering himself from the night breeze and sitting on the border of the window. As long as he kept an eye on the house, to feel in peace with himself at least, he could probably take a few steps outside. Sand was still visible and with everyone in the village being asleep, perhaps he could also enjoy what Aboda was like without people staring at him wherever he went. 

The advisor didn’t even bother to search for his shoes in the dark, the sand felt pleasant under his feet and he saw people resting on it. He took one last look back to the house, everything was still calm as a moment before, and started moving toward the sea. He didn’t approach it in Papuchia, Ravio didn’t know how to swim and the very first thing he felt in that new world was salt water. That being said? It was fascinating to look at such an immense opening of water. He couldn’t see anything else at the horizon and if maps were truthful, it was at least ten times larger than any lake they had in Lorule.

Ravio hesitantly reached for the shoreline and, after staring at the water for a long moment, he stepped further where the sand started feeling wet. One, two steps in and the man had to pull his robe up to keep it dry. It was… weird. Still a small smile crept on his face as his calluses covered feet found solace where the waves went to die. A glance back to the Engineer’s home, everything was still perfectly calm, and ravio decided that perhaps that wasn’t the worst way to spend the night.

\- - - 

Ravio could barely stay awake as two certain people yelled all in front of him. 

At dawn, right when the advisor was about to finally fall asleep, Engineer almost kicked the door down to wish them a wonderful day, carrying breakfast and bringing them clean clothes from the train. While Ravio knew the ther man's sleep schedule was a bit messed up, how dared he to be so lively before five in the morning? 

Even the prince, who was usually happy to be around Link, didn’t want to get up: the kid rolled over, pressing a pillow against his head and trying not to listen to Engineer say things like ‘the true early morning has gold in the mouth’ and other idioms that felt unfamiliar to the Lorulean’s ears.   
  
He literally dragged both Little Link and Ravio to the table, the advisor had to admit his strength was surprising and he almost feared the other would lift him up between his arms if he dared to make him wait. Something about pancakes getting cold, something else about fresh mango juice made just for them (It was delicious, by the way), but by the time Ravio cually started attacking his own breakfast the other two already started… being loud.

While the Engineer wasn’t very inclined to share a lot of his adventures with a sword, as soons Little Link questioned what kind of training Alfonzo got, the man started talking. The chatter led to them recreating some kind of scene about Alfonzo’s days as guard captain, which brought them to the current situation: Two Links, both holding a long loaf of bread (bag… ette?) and waving it around like a sword.

Ravio wanted to kill them both with his bare hands.

“And then he was chosen as the champion of the guards! Three of them were going swish, swish-” Link pretended to attack the kid, his bread moving in the air. “And he kept dodging everything like the champion he was, hitting back every time!”   
  
The kid was laughing, yet for once Ravio couldn’t truly enjoy it.

“Not only that! He only had a sword and a shield, while the three soldiers had long spears. They had reach, he had incredible skills!”   
  
“Wow, uncle Link! Uncle Alfie is so cool!”   
  
“Yes! He’s strong and he’s kind, this is why if someone has to wield the Lokomo sword to someone…. it’s him.” 

“Aw. but I still want to see you use the sword, like the Hero of legends!”    
  
“I.. someday. Maybe. But let’s go back to what really matters. Did you know Alfonzo also challenged the evil demon-?”   
  
Ravio pushed away the feeling that Link really didn’t want to fight and hated to even talk about it, but as long as he didn’t answer in a rough way to Little Link…. the advisor had no room to complain. If anything, he was in part to blame for telling the young prince so many stories about the other Link.   
  
Oh, Gods, how he missed his silent way to be right now.

Ravio sighed, pushing a small piece of bread and butter in his mouth, the pile of pancakes had been obliterated by the kid before he could even taste one of them. Not even the conductor took a bite, he seemed more interested in drinking ‘milk’ straight out of a coconut and having his breakfast with cheese and bread. How did a whole plate of food fit inside the prince’s stomach? The advisor had no idea, but the little one had always been known for his healthy appetite. In a certain sense it made him nostalgic, even the hero of two worlds was known for how much he could stuff in his mouth.   
  
“And that’s when I found out Alfie was someone who could mod my train-”   
  
Ravio’s attention returned to the two, his brain trying to return to the conversation. It was clear he missed a piece in the middle.   
  
“Mod?”   
  
“Yeah! Change parts, make it prettier and stronger, add new things to make it better- he’s the one who figured out how to place a shower in there.” Engineer paused, chuckling between his teeth. “Before I’d just go from destination to destination and sometimes arrive there in awful conditions… now I just… stop the train a couple of hours before arriving and I take a quick rinse.”   
  
“Ewwww- so you stay dirty most of the time?”   
  
“Well, dirty is a big word, Squirt. Let’s say that working in front of a fire all day isn’t really nice on a person’s body. And once I’m starting a job I can’t really stop until it’s done so… yeah, a shower on the train improved my quality of life a lot.”   
  
Ravio blinked. He just kept going, huh? In that it reminded him of the hero of… no, what was with his mind and that Link? Tiredness made him nostalgic, huh?   
  
“What about the oven, uncle? Did he invent the oven, too?”   
  
Engineer laughed, shaking his head.    
  
“No, we just got one. And I installed it. You know, I’m quite the jealous husband-” The man returned to his seat, picking up his coconut and taking a big sip from the straw that poked from its top. “-I no longer like to see other men touch my beloved train. I’m taking care of all the upgrades, now.”   
  
Right, someone did mention he didn’t usually take guests on his train, not outside his passenger carts. Ravio knew they had been welcomed out of necessity, but he appreciated the fact that, considering the kid settled in well, Engineer let them stay in the main cart.   
  
“Oh, by the way…” the conductor grinned widely, turning in Ravio’s direction. The Advisor raised an eyebrow, still munching on his bread. “You will love my next upgrade, Rei confirmed it's done, we just have to travel a while and… you know, buddy? You look like a Moblin just rolled over you- still tired?”

Ravio almost wanted to reply with a ‘took you long enough to notice’, but only shrugged, too tired to be formal in any way. Gods, his hair probably looked like a mess, considering he didn’t take care of his braid for almost two days.   
  
“Just a bit, sir.”   
  
“Well, put yourself together. We’re leaving later this afternoon.”   
  


The two Loruleans glanced in each other’s direction.    
  
“I thought we were to leave tomorrow.” the advisor dared. Was that the reason Link woke them up so early? To finish all they had to before leaving?   
  
“Yeah, well, change of plans. I’m not going to cover how Rin already knows, but if Linebeck is done I’m more than eager to go.”   
  
The advisor could spot a sudden uneasiness in the conductor's body: the man was now tapping his fingers against the table, his weight shifting on the seat. Well, considering he seemed to have issues with some of the villagers…

“You can’t wait to leave, can’t you?”   
  
Engineer’s ears tilted down, then up a couple of times. 

“Uncle Link?”

“Your other uncle is right, Squirt. I don’t like to sit around in this place, there’s nothing fun to do. Just wait until we arrive at Linebeck’s-” the conductor winked. “I will show you all the treasures this man has! I found many of those, too, a collection of rare stuff from all around the world!”   
  
“I can’t wait! Even if this seems a big treasure cove itself! I found a shield that was so shiny it almost seemed like a mirror! And-”    
  
“I know, kiddo. Both my grandpas liked to collect treasures... it would be nice if I knew how to use half of them. Anyway, sun is rising and this is the best moment to check near the water for pretty seashells, wanna help me out?”

“Seashells?” The kid slammed his hands on the table, jumping up on his feet. “I’ve only seen those in books, of course I’m ready!”

“Fantastic, go wear your shoes, I’ll come soon, just gotta finish my drink. Oh, I’m gonna show you how to break a coconut open, too! Those gave a fantastic white heart inside, it’s the best!”   
  
“Is it? Oh, I can’t wait, uncle!”   
  
And with that the kid was already running outside, Ravio didn’t even feel like trying to stop him, he trusted Link enough with the kid, so far Engineer only proved himself to be a good babysitter. 

Little Link ran outside to get his sandals and the conductor was quick on his feet as well, stopping at Ravio’s side as he was heading to the door.   
  
“Buddy? Go back to bed. I don’t know what you did tonight but you look like a zombie, can’t let you say bye to my friends while you’re dozing off.”   
  
“I-”   
  
“Hush. I got you covered and I’m going to give the kid a good beach experience before it’s time to go. And if you need anything-” the conductor reached for Ravio’s shoulder and his snakewhip crawled out of the coat, wrapping itself around Ravio’s neck and gently dangling there. “She’ll know how to find me, mh? She’s a good girl, a good guardian and a good messenger. Now, back to bed, Fruitcake.”

“I will never get you to drop that nickname, will I?”   
  
“Nope. By the way, I got you some actual cooking books and some stuff in the pantry. I promise this time I’ll eat anything you and kiddo make. Oh, and I- no, that’s going to be a surprise. Now… off I go, be ready to get a seashells necklace. It’s one of the few things I learnt to do with the other kids.”   
  
The man stretched and walked away, not even bothering to say bye. Ravio sighed, looking down at the snake and moving back to the bed. Link wasn’t telling him everything, he was starting to get that impression, but at the same time it didn’t feel anything too… bad.   
  
With the knowledge his son was safe and protected and with the snake curled on his side, Ravio finally managed to properly close his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we continue our little adventure! I also joined Nanowrimo this year so expect to see me write a bit more than usual. And yes, it's already the first of november for me.

After a few hours of sleep, the world was definitely brighter for Ravio.

He barely checked the situation outside, his kid was playing in the sand, before dedicating himself some time to adjust the long Lorulean braid and cleaning a bit more, If they were going to be traveling for a while, he could at least leave Link’s place in a decent state. A small thank you for taking care of the kid, mostly.  
  
It was lunch time when Ravio closed all windows, securing them from the inside, and decided to step out. He immediately panicked. Little Link was no longer playing on the sand, he was with a group of kids… in the water. He had some kind of wooden thing around his waist that seemed to keep him up, but the advisor’s first instinct was running toward the sea, even if he couldn’t swim, he didn’t even notice Link and Alfonzo sitting on the sand until the conductor jumped on his feet and blocked his path with one arm.

“Woah woah woah… chill, fruitcake, we have everything under control.”

“Who gave you the permission to put him in danger?” was Ravio’s immediate reply as he started to register that the way Link stopped him was simply placing an arm around his waist and holding him there. In another moment he would have stopped to consider how strong the other had to be to block someone who was running just with an arm, but the Lorulean’s attention was entirely on the kid and the perceived danger.  
  
“Chill, he’s going to be fine. We gave him a life belt, Alfie is one heck of a swimmer and now that you’re here Pon Pona can join him… let the kid have some fun, mate.”  
  
The advisor stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath, his eyes searching for the conductor’s mentor who only replied with a nod. Okay, okay...they did have things under control, after all. 

“The sun is strong right now…” he still found himself protesting. If there was something he learnt while living in Hyrule was that a strong sun didn’t agree with more delicate skin… and both Loruleans lived under a curtain of clouds for most of their lives.  
  
“Put a special cream on his skin to avoid problems, Fruitcake. I also turn like a lobster under the sun, I wouldn’t have a kid suffer like I usually do. Now chill, come with me and let’s leave the kids to their own. Pon, you’ll watch them with Alfie, right?”

The merchant didn’t even notice the snake was curled around his waist until the other reached for her and the whip was literally tossed in water.

“We can’t leave them-”  
  
“We can and we will. Come on, buddy, you’re already nervous enough without having you sit here to watch them play.” Engineer forced Ravio to look in his direction. “Come on, buddy, have I put you and your kid in danger, so far?”

The merchant sighed. No, so far, despite having an annoying attitude, the conductor took care of both of them. 

“Can you assure me he’s going to be safe?”  
  
“Yeah, Fruitcake, trust your old buddy. Alfie and Pon are both good swimmers, we can trust them. It’s not like I could do much anyway… let’s go see Dina, she said she was making some nice goodbye stuff before we leave. Oh, you still have to meet her!”  
  
Right. Ravio started tuning out all the unnecessary chatter as he was pushed toward another hut. He glanced in the prince’s direction, but the kid was only having fun with the other children. Of course he was, since their arrival in that world, Little Link had always been more eager to interact with other people around his age, a luxury he had never been allowed back in the castle. 

“If anything happens-” he still found himself threatening, not even sure on how to complete the sentence.

“Come on, Fruitcake…”  
  
“Can you please at least drop that nickname?”  
  
“Nicknames are fun. And how should I call you otherwise? Teethy? Bunnyboy?”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“You know, for your buck teeth…? ”  
  
Suddenly Ravio felt incredibly self conscious about his own mouth. It had been years since anyone pointed out that his front teeth were slightly longer than the rest and… he almost forgot. The man brought one hand to his lips, hiding them behind his fingers. Was it really…

“Ops, sore topic? Sorry, man, i assumed you were cool with it since it’s just the kind of shit small kids mock others about. If it helps-” the conductor slammed one arm against Ravio’s shoulders and the merchant screamed internally, where in the name of the gods did that little thing hide his muscles? “If it helps, I think it’s cute, grandpa Niko had the same thing.”  
  
“It doens’t help but… ugh” Ravio groaned, well aware that discussing with Engineer usually lead nowhere. If Little Link was going to be fine… “Well, didn't you say we were supposed to go and meet lady Dina?” the advisor asked, attempting a change of topic.  
  
“Right, that’s exactly where we’re going.”  
  
“No, we were going there, then you deviated and you’re pushing me toward your home.”  
  
Silence for a couple of seconds and the conductor offered him the most apologetic and embarrassed of smiles.

“I was just testing you.”  
  
“No, you weren’t. I’m starting to be able to tell when you forget what you’re doing… you get distracted very easily, don’t you?”  
  
The other man’s ears dropped almost immediately, his smile faded. Now that had to be a sore topic, huh? Ravio almost regretted being too blunt.  
  
“Yeah, it’s a brain thing, apparently. I can remember a lot of stuff when it comes to trains but… there are a lot of other things that just… I can’t focus well on them?” Both stopped in front of Alfonzo’s place and the conductor stepped back, crossing his arms. Ravio wondered for a second why, despite the heat, Engineer was still wearing his coat. “It’s not something that’s causing me too many problems but… it’s there. Heck, I don’t even know how to explain what’s in my brain but it’s… often loud and chaotic. Doctors say it’s one of the reasons my sleeping schedule is all fucked up. I guess… sorry if I tend to mess things up?”

Silence. Okay, if it was an actual problem, he was feeling bad for calling him out… and Zelda’s subtle warnings were a bit more clear. That felt awkward now.

“... You don’t mention my teeth again and I don’t make further comments about your ability to forget what you’re doing?”  
  
“Deal.”  
  
“Deal…”  
  
“Anyway, here we go, buddy, Dina’s place. She’s the best cook in the world.”  
  
A small smile graced Ravio’s face when he realized the Engineer's usual enthusiasm was crawling back. He didn’t even protest when the conductor passed one arm around his waist, dragging him toward the door. They both walked in without even knocking, like it was their own home.

\- - - 

The meeting had been as lively as Ravio expected and, while he appreciated Link getting him random cooking books, he felt incredibly more confident learning some tricks from Dina. The woman had bright red hair with some white strands mixed in and an even brighter smile that made her freckles truly shine. 

She was incredibly welcoming and before he knew it the conductor was gone and Ravio was deep in a conversation with Alfonzo’s wife. She had plenty of little cute anecdotes about the village and she seemed delighted to share them as she proceeded to prepare lunch. 

It was mostly the same fish, yet she managed to take the same ingredient and make a stew, some kind of cold salad, she fried some to prepare some snacks… the advisor could imagine how a village isolated by the rest of the world would rely a lot on what they could catch. The star of the meal was a stuffed cuccoo, though, and Ravio found himself salivating when the woman took it out of the oven to pour coconut milk on it.  
  
“Our Link loves coconuts, so I always try to add them in my recipes, somehow.” she commented with a wide smile, ravio didn’t even realize he took mental note of that. “One of the things he seems to like the most is shaved ice with coconut milk, but he rarely gets to bring here or to Papuchia ice blocks he doesn’t intend to sell. Speaking of which…”  
  
There was a little pause and she glanced in the door’s direction, as if she wanted to make sure they were alone. The Advisor raised an eyebrow, was she making sure they were alone?  
  
“Have you checked our little local market? I don’t want to suggest anything to you but… after lunch you will have a few hours, maybe get one or two of our specialties. We have cuccoos, even if not many, and we are one of the only two producers of honey in the Kingdom. Considering honey never spoils, perhaps buying a jar or two to start could be a good idea.”  
  
Ravio blinked.  
  
“To start what, ma’am?”  
  
“Oh, nothing, I just had a little talk with our boy and he says you seem to have a merchant’s spirit… he trades big things, carries either people or boxes of goods, but there’s no one who cares about… detailed sales, you know?”  
  
In part he felt somehow proud that the other recognized his skills. He used to be proud of his job, and even if he didn’t regret accepting to help Hilda and the Kingdom… he missed it occasionally. On the other side, he couldn’t quite follow the lady, even if he took note of honey never spoiling: it was a good food supply to hoard for emergencies, wasn’t it? Rich in sugars, nutrients and easy to stock around…

“I will certainly take a look, ma’am.”  
  
“That’s fantastic! Oh, by the way, if you and Link… both Links, if you and both Links return here after visiting the fire realm? We’re low on cutlery, just saying.”  
  
“I’ll keep that in mind, ma’am.”  
  
“Good boy. Now, let’s go back to cooking. Mind passing me that knife? Time to cut the pineapple, our hungry boys will come here soon and demand lunch. Oh, by the way, come here, I’m going to show you a few more tricks.”  
  


\- - -

Ravio couldn’t remember the last time he heard so many people laugh at the same table. Little Link and Alfonzo’s kids were a bundle of pure energy and the young prince couldn’t stop telling him about all the wonderful things they found and made. 

The Advisor was more than glad to slip around his neck a small thread with various seashells on it: it wasn’t good looking, perhaps, but the prince and the Engineer made it together and… while he knew the conductor was only keeping the kid busy, it was a delight to wear something his son made for him.

Link, the adult one, and Dina were laughing together, mostly chatting about the Engineer’s childhood and how he always had a knack for building weird stuff, the kids were listening and chiming in to make fun of Mr.Hero. It was… incredibly nice.

The food was plentiful and delicious, people were genuinely happy… Ravio felt blessed.

\- - -

As Dina suggested, Ravio spent his remaining free hours before the departure wandering the market. Once more, Engineer just told him to get whatever he wanted but the advisor refused to waste too much money on frivolous things.

In the end he left with ten jars of honey he added to their food supplies and some special paintings the villagers made by applying wax on canvas, coloring the part that weren’t protected by said wax, cleaning the canvas where other colors were to be applied and… well, perhaps he didn’t quite get how this ‘Batik’ technique worked, but it seemed unique enough.

Either a small investment or something to take home when he was, eventually, going to return home. 

Ravio even made sure to get something covered in fish decorations to give the kid in memory of his ‘sea time’, in case they never had a way to head back to Adoba Village. Ah, he never expected his kid to be actually good at swimming, but according to Alfonzo Little Link had a gift. He was incredibly brave and talented.

The advisor felt incredibly proud of that.

It was also a relief to know the villagers had ways to build items to make sure swimming was safe. That weird wooden donut around his kid’s waist? A wooden floater made to help kids learn how to swim. Apparently the conductor was the only person in all Aboda who, despite that, never learnt how to float in water, when he tried to ask why he bluntly replied he didn’t like to undress in public and changed the topic.

Huh... 

He was just afraid of water, mh? Well, wasn’t that lovely? Perhaps Ravio had something to mock the other wish, even if his memory or focus issues were clearly off the table. Perhaps, just perhaps, once this was all over… the advisor could ask for a life saver for himself and try to learn how to swim with his little one.

If Hilda allowed it.

\- - -

Goodbyes were quick in Papuchia: Dina and her kids kissed Alfonzo and Link’s cheeks, then everyone was back on the train. It was weird to see Engineer on the cart as his ‘wife’ was running on the tracks, but he and his mentor agreed on their turns and, well… Link picked the night turns. 

Something about him being generally struggling at resting anyway, Ravio did remember him mentioning a chaotic sleeping schedule. 

Point was… it was weird spending hours with him around in such a confined space for more than sleeping. Not necessarily a bad feeling, it was nice to have someone nearby who was so good at keeping the kid entertained. 

The two Links spent most of their time drawing, occasionally discussing possible inventions and projects (but Ravio could tell Engineer was merely entertaining the kid’s silly ideas.), the advisor instead focused on the cooking books, checking all pages in search of something easy to pull off.

The simplest cake only required six ingredients and, considering he packed some eggs between their supplies, they had all that was needed for it. It was after he was done placing out all bowls and basic items that he realized the chatter subsided in the little cart. Both Links were now looking in his direction with curiosity.  
  
“Just… making a cake for the prince.”  
  
“With fruits?” The kid chirped, smiling widely and dropping his crayon on the floor to approach the little table.

“Oh, no, it’s a chocolate one.”  
  
Cocoa, yeast, flour, eggs, milk and sugar. It seemed easy enough even for a novice like him. 

“Aww… I like fruitcakes like the one uncle Link bought us.”  
  
“Well, yes, my prince, but… I am not practical enough with cakes to attempt anything like that. I will set it as my final goal if that’s what you’d like. Otherwise we may risk… results like the last time.”  
  
“Ew….”  
  
“My thoughts exactly, young lord.”  
  
“If anything-” Engineer chimed in. “I love chocolate cakes. Trust me,squirt… we dip it in some cold milk and it’s going to be a blast. Let me… huh… I can’t put it in the cooler with the train going, sadly, but I’ll keep in mind for the future.”  
  
“I see…” Ravio found himself replying. “I will make sure to remind you, just in case.”  
  
The merchant was positive Link’s eyes just sparkled at that simple offer. oh, of course, if the other was always on his own, not having a great memory was probably a bigger problem than it seemed. Well, as long as the advisor was on that train, it was in everyone’s interest if he started acting like Engineer’s little, personal agenda, then. 

“Well, if uncle Link says it’s good, then I want to try it!”  
  
“You heard him, fruitcake,”  
  
Ravio sighed, shaking his head and offering the little prince a chair. He did seem intended in watching over the baking process, after all.  
  
“Now, this seems rather easy…” he commented, opening the book and placing it in front of his kid. “I’m just trying to think about some tips Lady Dina offered me this morning. For example, when she was making her coconut cake?”  
  
“Oooh, I love that one.” Engineer bit his lips, ears twitching with happiness.

“Yes, I noticed.” four slices. Ravio didn’t even know where the conductor stashed his food, how could he still have space for four slices after a full meal? “Anyway, she told me that… when you have eggs in a recipe? You want to separate the yolk from the white and whip the white before adding it to the mix. Something about mixing wet ingredients and dry ones separately, too? I admit I was a bit overwhelmed by the sea of information and didn’t memorize much.”

He did memorize all the market suggestions, that was almost immediate, but anything else? While he wanted to prepare nice things for the child, he wasn’t too sure about his skills. Not to mention they needed to figure out a good way to exercise in that cart, if they truly were going to spend weeks there, he couldn’t let the child grow unfit. 

Not that he minded some roundness, those cheeks begged to be squeezed, but Lorule was still an unforgiving place and he couldn’t imagine the reaction of starving villagers at the sight of a rounder prince.

“Mhm..” Engineer nodded. “Well, the best you can do is trying and seeing how it turns out. Not everything comes out perfect but as long as you follow an actual recipe instead of nightmarish ones-” Yes, Engineer did throw the book about dump cakes in the train’s furnace. “We should be safe. Oh, boy, I can’t wait to have some chocolate! You know, you can only get cocoa in Whittleton. They mostly sell lumber but, duh, if you ask me they’d have the best market if they focused on that.” A sigh escaped his lips. “Almost as good as coconuts.”  
  
“I see to return your hospitality. I should make it my next goal to make a cake with both coconuts _and_ cocoa. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

Link’s eyes sparkled like the thought never crossed his mind. “Oh, that’s new but that’d be delicious. Probably. You should still focus on a cake for kiddo first, though.”

“My prince is my main goal, but I will need practice anyway. Now, would you be so kind to pass me the whisk? It’s time to get started.”  
  
“Let’s do it!” the kid yelled, raising both hands up as Link moved to get the requested item.

\- - -

  
The cake had been a success. Well, as a success as something made by someone who never made one could be. It was a bit too dense, it didn’t raise enough because he used the wrong type of yeast, but it was edible. A bit of milk and both Link and Little Link enjoyed their slices, the conductor even allowing himself a second one. 

After that? Silence. 

The prince took a nap, the Engineer started working on something on his little desk and Ravio dedicated himself to more recipes. He had to admit it, it was… nice. It wasn’t a tense silence, it was just the three of them coexisting in that small space and he enjoyed the feeling, somehow. 

Well, four considering the snake.

It was almost dark outside when Engineer got up, prepared two trays worth of canned food and wished Ravio to have a good dinner as well. The train stopped and the man hopped off, reaching for the cart right in front of theirs, that was where Alfonzo wanted to sleep after all. From what Ravio understood the man wasn’t too fond of company and the only thing they couldn’t add in the other cart was a proper kitchen. 

The two Engineers were going to eat together, huh?  
  
Apparently no, because the adult Link only passed one of the trays to Alfonzo and moved to the front, immediately restarting the train. Huh… so he was going to drive and eat, huh? in a certain way it felt sad, he knew something about eating alone, but- ah, none of his problems. 

He was sitting again when the train started once more, whatever the other two wanted to do it wasn’t really something he was supposed to worry about.

\- - -

It took them two days to reach the Trading Post and, despite an evident lack of sleep and heavy bags under his eyes, Engineer was beaming in Ravio’s direction when Alfonzo started to slow down. Any attempt from the advisor to convince him to rest had been useless, but neither Link of his mentor seemed worry about it.

“Here we go, buddy, you’re about to meet one of the two biggest merchants of New Hyrule!” Engineer said, grinning widely and moving behind the advisor after picking the child up.  
  
His enthusiasm was tied to this mysterious order he had waiting there for him, huh? 

“Good, I’ll try to get you some chamomile from him.” he found himself replying.  
  
“Nah, I don’t like that stuff.”  
  
“You look like a zombie.”  
  
“I’ll sleep like a baby tonight, big promise. Now…” Engineer pushed Ravio forward and he was quick to jump off the train, prince still between his arms, as soon as the locomotive stopped. 

The advisor sighed, shaking his head and stepping off as well, realizing Alfonzo was doing the same while the main conductor was hopping toward a large house, mostly hidden behind a small hill.

“He couldn’t wait, could he?

Ravio shook his head as his only reply to Link’s mentor and decided to follow them as the other man focused on preparing the train to leave again. Link and the prince were grinning from ear to ear when Ravio finally reached them, they were sitting in front of a large warehouse with a man in his fourthies with them. Whoever he was, he had the air of a captain with his blue coat.

“Well?” He asked to the three, realizing they had been waiting for him,  
  
Engineer trotted behind him, pushing him forward in the large warehouse. Inside? A Long purple cart. It took Ravio a good second to realize it was different from any other wagon he had seen until then… and not only for the peculiar coloration.

It opened on the side, in a way that reminded him a lot of a traveling stand, and it had a large space that was hidden, like an extra space to keep… items. Or wares. The big surprise was… a traveling stall? It wasn’t anything special, look wise, but it felt functional, it felt practical and-

“Wait…” He turned in the Engineer’s direction, raising an eyebrow. Was it really…

“Well, buddy, I hope you like it. I’m not that good at designing shops but now you and little squirt will have something to work on while we go form place to place.”  
  
“YES!” Chimed in Little Link as the man in blue, probably the famous Linebeck, only crossed his arms. “I will help decorate! And we will decide what to sell every time, together, like real best friends, like I am with uncle Link!” 

Now that explained why Link kept pointing out what specialties could be purchased in every place they visited, he was already planning... but… who in the name of the gods did such a thing for someone who was basically a stranger?

“It must have cost a fortune…”

“Don’t worry about it. You can either pay it forward or realize that a chance to upgrade my train doesn’t come every day, I am paying you. Now, buddy-”

A shop. Ravio couldn’t believe he had an actual little shop. A familiar warmth started growing in his chest. Oh, how he missed having his own place. He was still processing his own feelings when he realized Engineer was trying to talk with him.  
  
“Oh, apologies, I…”  
  
“You are the one who got distracted this time, yes. Anyway, I’ll go fix the payment issue with Mr.Linebeck, you two-” he put the child down. “Go and have fun, okay?”  
  
“Yes, uncle Ravi! I want to show you everything! I’ve been good at keeping the secret, but now I have to tell you everything! Like, when you’re good at baking we should totally sell your cakes! And my seashell bracelets!”  
  
He let the kid chatter as Little Link climbed inside the cart before turning in the Engineer’s direction. The man was already leaving, but they still managed to exchange a smile. That was more than he ever hoped for and he had to admit it, now Ravio really wanted to find a way to repay all those favors.  
  
“Uncle Ravi? Come inside! You have to see this!”  
  
“On my way, my prince!”

It was time to see if he could go back to the good old days and start to setup a proper shop, while they had a goal, Ravio was now looking forward learning more and more about New Hyrule's economy. And, possibly, obtaining lots of money and many valuable items to bring back to Lorule.


	13. Chapter 13

Ravio wanted to cry of happiness. While the amount of items the advisor purchased to resell was limited, Link also ordered a few extra supplies to fill the little shelves of the traveling shop.

It wasn’t anything special or specific like honey from Aboda Village, the boxes mostly had clothes and everyday items, but him and the kid had plenty of things to put on the shelves and register. 

His only disappointment had been they didn’t stay long enough for Ravio to have a chance to speak with Linebeck: Link and Alfonzo literally rushed things, even if the advisor didn’t know why, and the new cart was attached real quick to the train before they started moving again. When he tried to inquire on the reason behind that, all he got as reply was a generic “Gotta move before Linebeck makes us boy so much we even lose our pants.” from the Engineer.

In the end Ravio and the kid were left with two carts connected with a little external bridge and a lot of things to do. Link failed to make a list of the items on the train, for example, and they had all the time to have the child unbox everything and list his  _ uncle _ all he found in the boxes. Honestly? Ravio in part suspected the Engineer didn’t do most of the work he seemed to do for his cargo so the two passengers could have something to do to pass their time.

Overall? Ravio just truly enjoyed his time with Little Link. Few worries, lots of sleep now that he felt safe enough to rest (no one could really climb on a moving train, right?), and a little bit of company whenever the Engineer decided to stop. Even his cooking attempts were getting better and better, the second cake he made actually managed to rise.

Little Link’s studies were also proceeding, more or less, with the adviisor helping where he could.

Considering they only stopped in Papuchia village to get more coal and refill the water tanks, Ravio just settled down and relaxed in his new, mobile house. He felt safe with a sealed room that kept moving, he didn’t fear assassins suddenly sneaking in or monsters surprising either him or the prince as they rested. There was just him, Little Link and peace.

\- - -

The peace was somehow interrupted two days after leaving Papuchia Village. Despite mostly keeping for himself during the day and using the cart only to sleep on the rug, during the evening the Engineer stopped the train, hopping back to their cart and inviting them, loudly, to join them in the engine room. 

Ravio didn’t like the idea one bit, he disliked how loud that part of the train was and the whistles were the worst, no wonders Engineer used ear protections most of the time he spent there. That being said… once Little Link heard the request, there was no going back.

Before the advisor could say anything, the child was already hopping down the cart and running toward the front of the train. Ravio sighed, shooting the conductor a weak glare, Engineer only replied by showing his tongue and following the child.

Peace was over, huh?   
  
He did follow the two, making sure to get his ears well covered and that Little Link would also keep wearing his ear covers and yawned as the other man restarted the engine. What in the name of the Gods was he even panning to show them? They were literally in front of a beach and- Wait, why were they approaching the water so fast? The rails were heading directly in the sea and they weren’t just barely above the surface like always… they were heading down.

“What-?”

It was all he managed to ask, panic rising, as the train went head first in the sea.Still, instead of drowning or being pushed around by water, all Ravio felt was a tingly sensation at the base of his neck. Reopening his eyes, he found his jaw dropping: the train was underwater, yes, but not a single droplet was reaching them. 

Air bubbles were all around them, but some kind of energy barrier kept the water out and the child was screaming in absolute delight as the Engineer pushed his machine further. They were… underwater. And the train kept them dry and well.

“You should have warned us!” He found himself telling the conductor. Link immediately grinned.

“And miss out on the face you made when we went down? No way, Fruitcake, it was priceless.”

“You scared the prince!”   


Engineer rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and huffing, clearly more amused than anything else.

“Your prince is fine, the child didn’t even blink, you’re the one who was scared.”   
  
“And for good reasons, I don’t know how to swim, neither does his majesty and-”   
  
“Guess what, I can’t swim either, I’d know better than throwing myself in the water.” A pause followed as he tapped his chin. “I do admit I didn’t double check if the system still worked before throwing us in, but…”   
  
“Engineer-”   
  
“Just kidding, buddy! I only have the fullest trust when it comes to my love!” the conductor replied as the child started to laugh. Ravio still didn’t feel amused. “And look outside. This is the spot that offers the best view. Soon we may be too deep for light to pass through so…”

Ravio only protested with a loud huff when the other passed an arm around his waist and pushed him forward. Okay, he had to admit it, it was quite the impressive view: the sea was full of life, colorful and now that the waters settled it was almost breathtaking. some of the creatures were massive in size, others were small and colorful, and none of them seemed bothered by the giant metallic snake bothering their peace. Wherever the trail was taking them, perhaps there was, in fact, something magnificent to look at.

“That group there?” Engineer said, moving forward and stepping near the kid. “Dolphins. They’re well known to be wonderful fishes and they even occasionally save. Well, they’re not technically fishes but… that’s behind the point. They’re very friendly and when I’m above water and I blow the whistle? They jump all around the train, it’s lovely.”

The advisor looked up at the school of not-fishes, raising an eyebrow. They were… weird looking creatures, yes, but he couldn’t really tell any difference between them and other fishes beside the fact that they were dancing close to the surface.   
  
“And those big ones? Tuna. Tuna is… delicious. Someday I am going to stop in Papuchia and offer you and your uncle a good meal made with it. It’s a bit pricey but it’s oily, tender and full of flavor.”   
  
The kid gasped and Ravio’s eyes widened: a single one of those fishes was probably enough to feed a whole village on its own. If they only had water good enough to sustain life in their lake, perhaps bringing some of those could help the terrible situation of Lorule, at least a bit.

“It’s kind of weird, to be honest, they’re usually in deeper waters, but… we’re going down fast, after all? The fauna has always been a bit weird around here, now I understand why. I mean, if there’s a temple, there’s also a huge concentration of magic… things get weird.”   
  
“I see… uncle Link?” The kid pulled on the Engineer’s shirt. “What is THAT?”

“That? It’s a jellyfish. You don’t really want to touch them, their tentacles sting. Once I was resting with my legs on the beach and one rolled in, super painful. I mean, what are the chances? I rarely take my clothes off and that one time I have to get stinged! Oh, but don’t worry, they’re not that common-”   
  
Another river of words. The positive thing was how invested the child was in Engineer’s stories, that was a good distraction from the boredom of living in a single room. Not to mention the man had a wonderful show to look at in front of his eyes. Ravio tuned Big Link’s words out and started staring outside, admiring the large shadows he could see while the water around them got darker and darker. 

To be completely honest, it was a bit scary how defined shapes turned into indistinct ones: if earlier the colors had been almost blinding, the more the train went further down, the more the light turned green and distant. When the kid finally started to question where the sun was, Ravio knew it was time for them to return to the more reassuring area of the train.   
  
Wait… they were underwater…

“Mister Engineer….” Ravio frowned, turning in the other man’s direction. “How are we supposed to return to our cabin from here? It’s dark outside, now, and… it would probably be better for his majesty to return to his crayons and books,.”   
  
Silence. The advisor only saw the conductor’s ears slowly descend and when the man turned he had the most apologetic smile on his face.    
  
“Oops?”   
  
Ravio felt the immediate urge to strangle the other, only managing to hold back because the kid was watching them.

“Excuse me? Are you trying to tell me we’re going to be blocked here until we reach our destination in only the Gods know how long?” he still found himself raising his voice, feeling dangerously close to explore. “How could you-”   
  
“Woah, chill Fruitcake, I was just kidding!” the other replied almost immediately, raising his hands up. “You just have to grab onto the train and move, it’ll automatically protect you from the water as long as you have one hand on it.”   
  
“And if we lose our grip…?”   
  
“I will stop the train when you two want to return to your room, hard to lose grip when you have a place where to keep your feet and handles for your hands.”   
  
Okay, Link did think this through. Ravio let out a sigh.

“Ten more minutes, then we’re going back.”   
  
He had to deal with the child’s whines for a good moment, but when all was dark they slowed the locomotive and Ravio walked back with his child. Wherever they were headed, it was deep beneath the sea, they could wait in a more comfortable place until their arrival.

  
  
\- - - 

“Hey, Engineer, Any sign of our destination?”   
  
“Nope, Fruitcake…”

“It’s been almost three days, are we sure we’re going somewhere? How long are our supplies going to last?”   
  
“With all you bought? We have at least two weeks worth of food, buddy. Coal? This baby can run on magic, even if with a slower pace, so no worries about that as well. Water? We convert that shit from the sea… don’t ask me how, it’s my baby that does it.”   
  
“I… well, you see it was a good idea to get some extra supplies when we were in Papuchia?”   
  
“Okay, you win that one but… I can’t see anything out there, buddy, and you should probably stay in the cart with the heater running, not moving back and forth.”

Ravio grunted. The engine room was warm and the cart where prince Link was was also well heated, but the temperatures between wagons were almost glacial and the absence of sun was felt there. Any joke about snow lands and ice realms fell flat on the advisor’s head while his anxiety kept raising.   
  
Hell, the only things around the train were strange bioluminescent creatures that were kept away by the train itself, the little lights in front of the locomotive only offered small shadows of pale and unnatural looking creatures.    
  
“I’m fine.” Ravio almost snapped, crossing his arms. “What about you? I’m not sure what Alfonzo was talking about but he said you should take breaks every six hours, at least. You’ve been running for at least ten… why isn’t he-”   
  
“Oh? Oh, no, I.. he wasn’t talking about that. Really. I’m the specialist in long shifts, I will take a break when I will need to sleep- I would stay awake anyway, I prefer things like that.”   
  
“But-”   
  
“No buts-” Engineer pat Ravio’s shoulder, leaving a big mark on the man’s robe. “I know what i’m doing, buddy, if by the time our resources are halfway down I still see nothing… we will head back, okay?”   
  
“Promise?”   


Engineer lifted his hand, forming a little fist and waiting for Ravio to bmp his against hit . As soon as he did, the man grinned widely.

“Promise. Now, hop hop and go make me another cake, last one was actually good and I’ll be hungry when I visit.”

“You are a shameless chocolate devourer, I can’t make a cake every day!”   
  
“You got _ time _ , buddy.”   
  
It was a lost cause and Ravio knew it. At least that was going to give him and the child something to do when they were finally done with Little Link’s mathematical studies.   
  
“Fine. But only because your oven isn’t consuming precious resources. And because the kid is bored.”   
  
“Aw, love you too, friend.”   
  
Ravio rolled his eyes, reaching for the Engine’s exit, but before he could step out Link’s hand stopped him by grabbing his arm.   
  
“What?”   
  
“Look!”   
  
Now the engineer’s attention was all to whatever was in front of them and Ravio was quick at his side, studying the dark waters ahead. Somehow, in the distance, not a large shape was visible, even if it was hard to make any sense of it since it was only delineated by a faint glow on the borders. A… giant building or something like that? It was still too hard to tell from there, but Ravio saw the other man grin from ear to ear.   
  
“I think we reached our destination!”   


  
\- - - 

  
  
The rails made an almost abrupt turn and turned a different color as the train approached the underwater structure. 

As soon as they were close enough, it was clear they were reaching an underwater castle, they could see the roof and the shape of six towers. Link did comment how strange it was, the spirits built all other temples to resemble, well, temples, and the tower to be a solitary one, but there couldn’t be another destination, right?    
  
The stone tablet had a rough draft of a sphere that didn’t match the idea of a palace, but neither the advisor or the Engineer could imagine other buildings in their own path.

It was with great surprise that they found out the tracks didn’t end there, the cobalt ones that brought them to the palace continued toward an unknown location, still the group decided to stop, especially after consulting with Link’s mentor.

“Well, we can’t just… ignore this, can we?” Engineer only said, hopping down after stopping at an underwater station. The pavement was made of white marble, the finest Ravio had ever seen, and… was it laying on grass?    


He took the prince’s hand, wondering how plants could somehow survive without sun and in the depth of the ocean floor, there was magic at play there and… let’s be honest, Lorule could use that kind of spell. Perhaps, if he was lucky, there was going to be no danger inside and a library where he was going to find some good information.   
  
“A castle under the sea… I’m so excited! Look, uncles, someone is opening the door for us!”   
  
The three adults immediately turned their heads, Alfonzo holding up the Lokomo sword and Engineer stepping in front of Ravio and the child in a protective stance. Ravio had to admit it was a relief to know both his traveling partners were ready to defend them, if needed. 

For now, though? They could only wait as the main gate slowly opened. 

**Author's Note:**

> Why am I doing this to myself?


End file.
